A Twisted Tale - Always Number Two
by xtheGoldenEaglex
Summary: "I'm impulsive. I do bad things that I regret and then I end up hurting people I care about." Jessica Gilbert grew up spoiled and entitled, but always placed second when it came to her identical twin sister, Elena. Years of being number two have taken it's toll on the doppelganger, and she's insecure and easily broken. She wants to be whole again. Season 1.
1. Pilot

_**Author's Note: **__Right, so I know the whole 'Elena had a twin sister' thing has been done a million times over, but I've given a lot of thought to Jessica's character. For the first few episodes, she's going to be a total nightmare. She's not at all perfect. She's insecure and she makes a lot of mistakes, and a lot of them end up hurting others. I actually hate my OC right now. Is it normal to actually hate your own original character? But she develops in a very Caroline way, though I won't be completely stealing that plot. _

_Sorry about the really long author's note! Enjoy the story!_

* * *

**Pilot**

_Dear diary,_

_Today, I am going to get out of this funk. No more depressed Jessica. Not that I want to retreat back into my old self who made the worst mistakes... Ugh, looks like I have to face one of them today._

_I feel horrible for what I did to Matt. He looks so broken when I see him... I really hurt him bad. I can't blame him, I did a pretty shitty thing. Elena still gives me crap about it, crap that I seriously deserve. Maybe, we can talk today and sort things out. Maybe he'll forgive me._

_Yeah, when hell freezes over._

_Hopefully, I can ignore the both pitiful and slut-shaming stares people are going to give me. _

_Yours sincerely,_  
_ Jessica_

A brown haired girl sighed and threw back her head, groaning. She stood up, dressed in a purple tank top and denim jeans. Her hair was tied up neatly in a french plait. She rarely wore make-up, and if she did, it was only a tint of mascara.

She spent the whole summer hating herself. Grieving for the loss of her parents. She was going to be happy. No one could stop that.

She smiled reassuringly at her reflection, but it looked forced. She wasn't happy, she was breaking. Slowly, but surely. The brunette was one break down away from giving up, which she had been thinking of doing all summer. But if she died, Elena and Jeremy would be even more broken. She couldn't stand the thought of doing that to them.

And yes, surprisingly, Jessica Gilbert wasn't a complete selfish bitch.

Sighing, she threw her brown bag over her shoulder and went down to the kitchen. "Hey, Jess," Jenna said, smiling.

Jenna was the fun aunt. She was the only person who would take them in and now, she was strangely motherly to them, even though she was still struggling with her role.

"Morning, Jenna," Jessica replied.

"You want something?" she asked, bustling around the kitchen. "Oh! Elena fixed the toaster?"

Jessica nodded. "But I'm fine. I'll just get something at lunch."

Jenna pointed a rather parental finger at Jessica. "You need to be eating more often. Last night, you barely touched your dinner. And it was pizza. _Pizza_! You love pizza!"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I wasn't hungry. Jenna, stop worrying about me."

Jenna let out a loud sigh. "I always worry about you." Getting out of her downer mood, she piped up suddenly. "How about toast? I can make toast."

"It's all about the coffee, Aunt Jenna," Elena said, smiling as she entered the kitchen.

Jeremy joined them, already stoned from what Jessica could see. "Is there coffee?" He took Elena's mug. Said brunette glared at him, while the other simply laughed.

Jenna rooted in her purse. "Your first day of school and I'm totally unprepared. Lunch money?" She pulled out three five dollars.

"I'm good," Elena assured her.

"Eh, me too," Jessica added.

Jenna shot the girl a look, but before she could disagree, Jeremy snatched the three fives from her hand. "Anything else? A number two pencil? What am I missing?"

"Isn't that big presentation today?" Jessica said.

"I'm meeting with my thesis advisor at..." She checked the watch on her wrist. "...now. Crap!"

Elena gave her a smile. "Then go. We'll be fine." Jenna nodded gratefully to her and stormed out. "You guys okay?"

Jeremy didn't have time for meaningful chats, apparently. "Don't start."

As Jeremy left, Elena turned to her younger, identical twin sister. "Jess?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Meh."

* * *

"So Grams is telling me I'm psychic," Bonnie, their best friend, rambled as she drove them all to school. "Our ancestors were from Salem, witches and all that, I know, crazy, but she's going on and on about it, and I'm like, put this woman in a home already!"

"Oh, Bonnie, we're all thinking that," Jessica said.

Bonnie shot her a look. Despite her constant complaining about her grams, she loved the woman dearly. She didn't like it when anyone but her complained about the occult professor. "Anyway... But then I started thinking, I predicted Obama and I predicted Heath Ledger, and I still think Florida will break off and turn into little resort islands... Elena! Back in the car."

Jessica turned back her head to look at Elena, who had a dazed expression on her face as she stared out the window. "I did it again, didn't I? I-I'm sorry, Bonnie. You were telling me that..."

"She's psychic now," Jessica told her.

"Right," Elena started. "Okay, then predict something. About me."

Bonnie smiled slightly. "I see..."

Suddenly, a dark object, like a crow, hit Bonnie's front window. The three girls flinched back in their seats. Jessica gripped the sides of her seat tightly and looked away from the bird.

"What was that?" Bonnie practically roared. "Oh, my god! Elena, Jess, you guys okay?"

"It's okay. I'm fine," Elena assured the worrying Bennett.

"Jessica?" she inquired.

"Perfectly fine," Jessica snapped. Her features softened when she noticed Bonnie was hurt. "Sorry, I-I shouldn't have snapped like that. I'm working on those... uh... issues."

Bonnie nodded and smiled kindly. "It's okay."

"But seriously," Jessica started with a small smile. "We can't be freaked out by cars our entire lives."

"I predict this year is going to be kick ass," Bonnie said, smiling. "And I predict all the sad and dark times are over and you guys are going to be beyond happy."

* * *

"Major lack of male real estate," Bonnie commented as the three of them went into the school. "Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot... can I still say 'tranny mess'?"

"No, that's over," Jessica replied.

She smiled. "Ah, find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy year."

Jessica laughed, but her attention was on a certain blonde quarterback who was walking through the hall. She gave him a wave, but he scowled and ignored her. "He hates me."

"Well, you did sleep with his best friend," Bonnie said, making the tanned brunette wince. "That's gotta hurt."

"I made a mistake, a huge, _huge _mistake that I'll regret for the rest of my life, but that doesn't mean I like to be reminded of it every ten seconds," Jessica said as calmly as she could muster.

Bonnie held up her hands in defense, not wanting to anger her. "Not judging."

A boy - Jacob Browne - gave her a flirty wink. Jessica groaned. "Everyone's acting like I'm some slut who's just gonna jump into bed with them on a whim. I'm not Vicki Donovan!"

Elena rolled her brown eyes as a blonde overachiever approached them. "Elena, Jessie. Oh, my god." She wrapped her arms around the twins, holding them tightly to her chest. "How are you? Oh, it's so good to see you guys. How are they? Are they good?"

"Uh, hi, we're over here," Jessica said shortly, giving a small wave.

Elena gave her sister a pointed look. "We're fine. Thank you."

Caroline smiled sympathetically at them. "Really?"

"Yeah, peachy," Jessica assured, rolling her eyes a little. _Oh, yeah, our parents died. But we're totally fine. _In the brunette's view, it was stupid of people to ask. Of course they weren't _fine_. Fine was when your hamster died, who knew how long it would be until they were properly fine?

"Oh, you poor things!" Caroline exclaimed, before engulfing them in another bone-crushing hug.

"Okay, Caroline..." Elena said pleadingly.

She pulled away. "Oh! Okay, see you guys later?"

"Okay!" Bonnie called as Caroline spun around. "Bye!"

"No comment," Elena said, shaking her head and staring after her, somewhat traumatised.

"I'm not going to say anything," their best friend added.

Jessica was glaring at Caroline's retreating back. _Insensitive much? _"Ugh."

The girls continued to walk down the hall, Bonnie chattering about the latest fads with Elena and Jessica popping in a comment here and there.

Suddenly, Bonnie's rant came to a halt as she stopped by the school office. "Hold up. Who's this?"

"All I see is back," Elena said.

"One sexy, hot back," Jessica said, grinning.

"Hey," the other Gilbert sister scolded, causing her twin to look at her in confusion. "It wouldn't be very polite to get in a relationship so soon after... Matt."

Jessica scoffed. "All I said is that he has a nice back. Doesn't mean I want to date the guy. Besides, who cares what everyone else thinks?"

"Not so much what everyone else thinks," she began, her tone deadly serious. "More what Matt will think."

Jessica clenched her fists and bit her tongue, but it came out anyway. "Oh, why don't you and Matt hook up already? We all know he's been pining over you for years."

"Are we really gonna talk about this _again_?" Elena asked, scoffing. "Matt was never into me. It was always _you _he was interested in."

She knew it was a lie. Jessica saw how Matt used to look at Elena, who had been dating Jordan Davis before the accident. Maybe she was being paranoid, but she was so used to being looked over that everyone chose her sister over her, that she just resigned herself to the fact that everyone would.

"Besides," Elena continued, "It's not like you have the right to be jealous. You're the reason that relationship failed."

Bonnie watched her friends worriedly, especially Jessica, who was glaring at her twin venomously. She tried to lighten the conversation. "I'm sensing Seattle, and he plays the guitar."

Elena laughed uneasily and Jessica tried her best to drop the previous animosity. "You're really going to run this whole psychic thing into the ground, huh?"

She nodded. "Pretty much."

"Jeremy! Good batch, man!"

Elena rolled her eyes. "I'll be right back."

She rushed off. "Shouldn't you go with her?" Bonnie asked.

Jessica shrugged. "Eh. No need for both of us."

Bonnie nodded, gawking once again at the dude's back. "Please be hot."

* * *

Jessica doodled on a piece of paper as Tanner went on and on and _on_... "Once our home state of Virginia joined confederacy in 1861, it created a tremendous amount of tension within the state. People in Virginia's northwest region had different ideals than those from the traditional deep south. Then Virginia divided in 1863 with the northwest region joining the union."

As Tanner rambled, Elena was exchanging eye-sex with the new guy. Figures she get the hot dude. Everyone always chose Elena.

_It'll always be Elena._

Elena took out her phone as it vibrated. She recieved a text from Bonnie.

_Bonnie: HAWT-E. STARING U._

She turned to Stefan, who was, as Bonnie wrote, staring at her. A small smile graced her lips before she went back to 'listening' to her history teacher.

* * *

Later that day, Jessica was walking into the Grill with Bonnie. They were meeting Elena and Caroline there. "His name is Stefan Salvatore," Jessica informed Bonnie. "He lives with his uncle up at the old Salvatore boarding house. He hasn't lived here since he was a kid. Military family, so they never settled in one place for too long. He's a gemini and his favourite colour is blue."

Bonnie was a little awed at her friend. "You got all of that in one day?"

Jessica grinned. "Oh, _puh-lease_, I got all that between third and fourth period. What do you think of a June wedding?"

"Uh, nice..." she said. She saw Matt by the pool table with Tyler as the two of them slid into a booth. Bonnie felt pity for the sweet, kind boy. "Maybe you should hold off a bit. Elena's right, it's basically a punch in the face for Matt."

Jessica scoffed. "But don't I deserve to be happy?"

Bonnie sighed heavily. She really didn't want to anger her. "Yes, you do, but so does Matt."

"It's been four months, why isn't he over it?" Jessica pressed, leaning back into her seat. "I mean, he's back friends with Tyler and they're still best buds, why is he still so upset with me?"

Bonnie shrugged. "They've been best friends since they were kids. Boy rule, I guess."

The Gilbert girl crossed her arms and huffed. "It's sexist, that's what it is. The girl gets all the blame and the boy comes out without a scratch."

"Well, not 'without a scratch,'" Bonnie said. "Matt punched him pretty hard after he found out."

"Vicki told him," Jessica said, sending a glare the waitress' way. "Like she was in the position to judge someone for opening their legs when she does it more often than she smokes weed. And that's saying something."

"It was her _brother_," Bonnie pointed out. "You were cheating on her brother with his best friend..."

"...who she's currently doing, might I add."

Bonnie shot her a look and she shrugged indifferently, not caring at all for Vicki Donovan. "She had every right to tell him. If Jeremy's girlfriend was cheating on him, you'd tell him, right?" Jessica pursed her lips, not answering her question. "_Exactly_."

"I learned my lesson, Bonnie," Jessica told her. "I just... I saw the way he looked at Elena and-"

"Wait," Bonnie interrupted, holding her hand up and gesturing for her to stop. "You slept with Tyler the night of the party because you were jealous of Elena?"

Jessica's face scrunched up, not at all believing what was coming out of Bonnie's mouth. "No. No way. I slept with Tyler because I was _drunk_. End of."

Bonnie shook her head. "No. Jessica, you don't have to lie to me. I won't tell anyone."

As Jessica opened her mouth to snap at her, they were joined by a bubbly blonde. "Hi, guys!" Caroline boomed, sitting down next to Bonnie.

_Thank God for Caroline_, Jessica thought for the first time that year. Before her parents died, she was really close with Caroline, but she wasn't exactly the go-to when she was feeling sad or grieving her parents.

Jessica and Bonnie shared a look, Bonnie giving her a 'we are _so _talking about this later' look as Jessica shot her a cheeky smile. Caroline glanced between them. "Am I missing something?"

"No," Jessica said immediately, directing a warning look at Caroline. "So, Care. How's your love life going?"

Caroline perked up at the topic of romance. "Well, Jacob Browne was flirting with me today-"

"Douche bag," she commented. Caroline's face fell. "Go on."

As Caroline rambled on about her love life and Sam Walters (a very handsome jock), Jessica excused herself and went to the bathroom.

"What's up with her?" Caroline asked, watching Jessica _run _to the bathroom.

"She's just... complicated," Bonnie said.

"Wow. And I thought she was complicated before." Bonnie shot her a look. "What?"

Matt was walking over to them. He took a seat on one of the chairs. "Hey."

"Hi, Matt," Caroline chirped.

"Uh, how's Jessica doing?" Bonnie noticed how awkward the topic was for him.

"Her mom and dad died," Bonnie replied, trying not to bring up the whole cheating situation. "She's putting on a good face, but it's only been four months."

Matt nodded understandingly. "I feel a little bad, you know. Avoiding her after the accident. She needed me."

"She slept with Tyler." Matt flinched at the blonde's statement, it wasn't exactly an easy thing for him to hear. He tried to put it at the back of his mind so he could get on with his life. "You're right to be mad at her. It's gotta suck for you."

He smiled a little at Caroline. She may have been insensitive, but she had her heart in the right place. "Has she said anything about me?"

Bonnie shook her head and gave Caroline one of her scolding looks as she opened her mouth to respond. "Oh, no. So not getting in the middle. You pick up the phone and call her."

"I'd feel weird calling her," Matt stated. "She slept with my best friend and then I broke up her."

"No one's asking you to," Caroline assured him. Her expression became judgmental all of a sudden. "Wait, do want to get back together with her?"

Matt was taken aback. "Um..."

"Oh my God!" Caroline exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hands. Bonnie thought she was over-exaggerating. "You do!"

Matt looked away from her, a little ashamed. "Give it more time, Matt," Bonnie said to him.

He nodded to her, but at the real wrong time, the new guy, Stefan, entered the Grill with Elena and Jessica.

_Jessica always did have 'great' timing, _Bonnie mused.

"More time, huh?" Matt said angrily, getting up and striding over to the three of them.

"Ooh," Caroline said worried. She was beginning to get annoyed when Bonnie shot her yet _another _one of her looks. "_What_?"

Matt offered his hand to Stefan. "Hey, I'm Matt, nice to meet you."

Stefan shook it firmly. "Hi. Stefan."

Elena nodded to him. Jessica was shifting uncomfortably, it was the first time they were within a feet of each other in months. "Hey," she said, smiling slightly.

His face showed no sign of happiness, it was stony. "Hey," he deadpanned, making Jessica flinch.

* * *

"So, you were born in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked Stefan, who was currently under interrogation.

He nodded. "Mhm. And I moved when I still young."

"Parents?" Bonnie inquired.

"My parents passed away."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Any siblings?" Jessica questioned, sending an obvious glare to Elena, who returned it with a mock glare. They both withheld their laughter.

"None that I talk to," Stefan said. "I live with my uncle."

"So, Stefan, if you're new, then you don't know about the party tomorrow," Caroline said, she had also been taken with Stefan's charm and hot back.

"It's a back to school thing at the falls," Bonnie informed him.

He looked to Elena. "Are you going?"

Jessica scowled. _Of course it was Elena. Everyone loves Elena._

"Of course she is," Bonnie but in.

Elena smiled softly, smitten with the boy in front of her.

* * *

"The Battle of Willow Creek took place right at the end of the war in our very own Mystic Falls. How many casualties resulted in this battle? Ms. Bennett?"

Bonnie straightened up as Tanner's unhelpful gaze landed on her. "Um... a lot? I'm not sure. Like a whole lot."

The class laughed, but Tanner wasn't amused. "Cute becomes dumb in an instant, Ms. Bennett. Mr. Donovan? Would you like to take this opportunity to overcome your embedded jock stereotype?"

Matt smiled goofily. Jessica felt old feelings rush back. Everything shattered because of that one mistake. "It's okay, Mr. Tanner, I'm cool with it."

"Hm. Miss Gilbert?" The two of them looked up. "_Jessica_?"

"Eh..." She peeked into her history book, only turning over the corners.

"No cheating," he said stonily.

She plopped back into her chair, making it bounce back. The class laughed once again. "I'm... unaware of that particular question."

_Great, now my English is failing_, she snapped at herself.

He sighed. "Elena? Surely you can enlighten us about one of the town's most significantly historical events?"

Elena was just as oblivious as the rest of us. "I'm sorry, I-I don't know."

"I was willing to be lenient last year for obvious reasons, girls. But the personal excuses ended with summer break."

In Jessica's view, that wasn't fair at all. It was like putting a timer on their grieving period.

The teen heartthrob that was Stefan Salvatore apparently had a brain inside that pretty head of his. "There were three hundred and fourty-six casualties. Unless you're counting local civilians."

Tanner was impressed by what Jessica could see. "That's correct. Mister..."

"Salvatore."

"Salvatore. Any relation to the original settlers here at Mystic Falls?"

"Distant."

"Well, very good. Except..." A smirk crept up on his face. "...of course, there were no civilian casualties in this battle."

"Actually, there were twenty-six, sir. Confederate soldiers, they fired on the church, believing it to be housing weapons. They were wrong. It was a night of great loss. The founder's archives are, uh, stored in civil hall if you'd like to brush up on your facts. Mr. Tanner."

The class 'oohed' and laugh as Mr. Tanner glared at him. "Hm..."

* * *

At the party later that night, Jessica was chatting with one of the girls she knew from French. She saw Stefan arrive. "Uh, excuse me."

She followed after him. He noticed her and shot her a smile. It was odd... how he looked at her. It was like he saw her before. Like he knew her for years. Jessica brushed it off. "Hey! You made it!"

Stefan nodded. "I did."

"Well, how about we get you drink?" she offered.

"Well, I'm-"

"Come on," she urged.

He was looking past her. Jessica followed his stare, which led to Elena and Bonnie. _Elena_. "I... I'll talk to you later," he said, marching past her.

Her fake, cheery smile fell as soon as he was out of view. "Right."

Caroline walked up to her and handed her a drink. "Elena?"

Jessica nodded slowly. She was tired of being passed over for Elena. Before Matt, every other guy she was interested in preferred Elena. And she had an inkling that Matt had too.

She scoffed angrily. "It's always Elena."

Caroline downed her drink quickly as Jessica gulped down hers. "Tell me about it."

Once she finished her drink, she placed it on the table beside her. "It's always her. _Always. _Maybe I should just give up even trying!"

Caroline was very sympathetic, having been placed second to Elena many times before. "Believe me, I get it, uh..." She pointed behind her.

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows and turned around. "Tyler?"

Caroline clicked her tongue, not liking being put in such an awkward position. "I'll leave you guys to it."

Grabbing her drink, Caroline took off, leaving the two of them alone. "We haven't really talked since... that night."

Jessica rubbed the nape of her neck. "Yeah, uh. This is awkward."

He let out a laugh. "Yeah, it really is. I just want to tell you that it was good and maybe it could happen again?"

Tyler was _smirking_. She so badly wanted to smack him, but thought against it. They were in public. "No. Not happening. How could you even do that to Matt?"

He shrugged. "He doesn't own me."

Jessica stared at him like he was a three-headed dog. "He's your _friend _and you're with Vicki."

"That's nothing," Tyler assured her. "She's just a friend... with benefits sort of thing."

"You mean more to her than that and you know it," Jessica spat, glaring at him. "You're even worse than I am!"

Tyler looked around them nervously. "Can we continue this somewhere a little more private? Like in the woods?"

Jessica crossed her arms over her chest, not dropping her glare. "Fine."

"You know, you're kind of the talk of the town," Elena said to Stefan as they walked side-by-side through the party.

Stefan quirked an eyebrow. "Am I?"

Elena nodded. "Mhm. Mysterious new guy, oh, yeah."

"Well, you have the mysterious thing going, too. Twinged in sadness," Stefan commented.

Elena's head snapped over to him. "What makes you think that I'm sad?"

"Well, we did meet in a graveyard," he pointed out.

"Right." Good point... she hadn't thought of that. "Well, no, technically we met in the men's room. You don't want to know, it's... it's not exactly party 'chit-chat'."

He smiled kindly. "Well, I've never really been very good at, uh, 'chit-chat'."

Elena took a deep breath as she told him the tragic happenings of four months ago. "Last spring... my parents' car drove off of a bridge into the lake. And I was in the backseat and I survived, but... they didn't. So that's my story."

They stopped, getting lost in each other's eyes. "You won't be sad forever, Elena."

* * *

"You are the most self-centered _brat_ I have ever met!" Jessica roared at Tyler after he tried to kiss her.

"What does that make you, then, huh?" Tyler bit back, seething. "You're the whore who slept with your boyfriend's best friend!"

She took a deep breath. _Who the hell did he think he is?_ "Well, you're a dick who slept with his best friend's girlfriend!"

"You consented, so don't you dare act like you're all innocent," Tyler spat.

She threw her arms in the air. "I'm not! I never said I was! But I'm not the one who would rub it in Matt's face that we're in a relationship."

Tyler stepped closer to her. They were so close that they were only inches apart. She could feel his breath on her lips. "You know you're hot, right?"

Jessica gaped. How was she supposed to answer that? Tyler brushed a loose curl from her face. That was the only difference between the twins; Elena had dead straight hair while Jessica's hair was curly.

He kissed her neck and, despite herself, she moaned. It was wrong... they'd hurt Matt. She didn't want to hurt Matt. Not after everything she put him through.

"No, stop it," Jessica said firmly. Tyler pushed her into tree, pressing her against it. "Tyler, for heaven's sake, get the hell away from me!"

"Come on. Sex against a tree? That's hot," he said, smirking and continuing to kiss my neck.

He landed one right on her lips. Jessica squirmed beneath him, trying her best to get away. She brought her knee up and kneed him in the groin. He stepped back and grabbed his crotch. Jessica used the distraction to run as fast as she could away from him. She wasn't good at track, she was a cheerleader.

Arriving back at the party, she gasped for breath. Matt approached her. "Seriously, Jessica? That was low, sneaking off into the woods with Tyler. Do you know humiliating this is for me? My girlfriend went for my best friend. _Again_."

"I _know_, Matt, I-"

"No, I'm finished," he stated. "You don't think about anyone but yourself."

"Matt, we didn't do anything, I swear," she replied in a pleading tone. "I wouldn't."

He scoffed. "Quit lying, Jessica. You owe me that much. You're clothes are ripped, you're hair's a mess and you've just come out of the woods. What else am I to think?"

"I swear, Matt. He... I'm not even gonna go into it. We didn't do anything. Please believe me." She was beginning to sound pathetic, she was reducing herself to begging.

"I want to, Jessica. I really do, but I can't."

Like everyone else, he walked away. When she opened her eyes again, Bonnie was approaching her. "You don't think I'm crazy, do you?"

She placed a hand on her shoulder, mostly to stop herself from fainting. "No, Bon. I think you're perfectly sane."

"Are you okay?" she asked. "I just saw you go into the woods with Tyler..." She trailed off, taking in the brunette's ripped skirt. "You didn't..."

"Oh, _he_ tried," Jessica said. Tears filled her eyes as she backed up against a tree. "And he... he was going to..."

Bonnie wrapped her arms around her friend. "You're okay, you're okay. Next time he comes near you, I'll kick his ass."

Jessica laughed. "Kick whose ass?"

They broke apart when they heard Jeremy's voice. "Nobody's. Just go back to the party," Bonnie said, since Jessica was too upset to say anything.

"No, I heard you guys mention Tyler. Like Tyler Lockwood." He scanned Jessica, similiar to what Bonnie had done only moments ago. His eyes widened, as if he just realised something. "I'm gonna kill that dick."

He was about to storm off, when Jessica grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Don't. Jeremy, please. I'm fine, he didn't... he _tried_, but he didn't."

Jeremy ripped his arm from his sister's grasp. "I'm still gonna kill him."

He rushed away. Jessica made to follow him, but Bonnie pulled her back. "Come on. You need a drink."

* * *

Bonnie allowed for Jessica to get drunk, hell, she needed it. But when it came to her seventh glass, she started to worry. "Maybe you wanna back down on the tequila."

Jessica waved her hand. "_Pfft_. No way, I'm totally..." She stumbled over, catching herself by gripping the railings. "See? Perfectly in control! Ooh, there's Stefan!"

She went over to where Stefan was, ignoring Bonnie's 'get the hell over here!' at least twice. She was too drunk to hear. "Hey!" He whipped around to face her. "There you are. Have you been down to the falls yet? Because they're really cool at night. And I can show you... if you want."

"I think you've had too much to drink," Stefan commented.

Jessica shrugged. "Of course I have. So-"

"Jessica," he started the speech that she really dreaded. "You and me, it's not gonna happen. Sorry."

Saying she was 'hurt' was most definitely an understatement. Not even the alcohol could get rid of the lump in her chest. In one night, she had almost been forced to have sex against a tree, called a slut, her ex-boyfriend accused her of sleeping with his best friend (Jessica understood why, he had every right to be suspicious) and turned down in favour for her perfect sister.

_You'd think I'd get used to this by now, _she thought sadly before going to drown herself in more alcohol.

* * *

Bonnie wrapped an arm around an extremely drunk Jessica. "There, there."

"Alcohol is so amazing," Jessica said happily, almost skipping. "It can make everything bad just go away! Like fairy dust!" She giggled. "Alcohol is like fairy dust!"

She patted her back. "Yeah, alcohol is fairy dust."

A drunk Jessica was the least of her problems when Elena and Jeremy rushed into the party from the woods, Vicki was limp in their arms. "Somebody help!" Elena roared.

"Vicki? Vicki, what the hell?" Matt exclaimed, rushing over to his sister who had a bite mark on her neck.

"What happened to her?" Tyler inquired.

Matt ignored him and yelled, "Somebody, call an ambulance!"

"Everybody back up, give her some space!" Tyler said.

"It's her neck," Elena said. "Something bit her. She's losing a lot of blood."

A boy handed Matt a bandage. "Put this on her neck."

"Vicki, Vicki, come on, open your eyes, look at me," Matt begged.

* * *

"What's going on?" Uncle Zach asked as his 'nephew' rushed into the house.

"Someone else was attacked tonight, Zach, and it wasn't me," Stefan said. He slammed his bedroom door. There was a crow... in his bedroom. Only one person used effects like that. "Damon."

Damon was standing out on the balcony. He smirked. "Hello, brother."

"Crow's a bit much, don't you think?" Stefan asked.

"Wait til you see what I can do with the fog," he boasted.

"When'd you get here?" Stefan inquired.

"Well, I couldn't miss your first day at school." Stefan rolled his eyes at his brother's difficult. "Your hair's different. I like it."

"It's been fifteen years, Damon," he stated, almost nostalgic.

"Thank God. I couldn't take another day of the nineties. That horrible grunge look did not suit you. Remember, Stefan, it's important to stay away from fads." Stefan knew Damon never answered questions seriously.

"Why are you here?" he pressed.

Damon put on a fake pout. "I missed my little brother."

"You hate small towns," Stefan said. "It's boring. There's nothing for you to do."

His signature smirk appeared on his face. "I've managed to keep myself busy."

"You know, you left that girl alive tonight. That's very clumsy of you."

"Ah. That can be a problem... for you."

Stefan narrowed his eyes at him. "Why are you here now?"

"I could ask you the same question. However, I'm fairly certain your answer can be summed up all into two little words... Jessica and Elena."

* * *

Matt jumped into the ambulance, going to the hospital with his sister. "Hey," Bonnie said. "We're gonna go to Mainline Coffee, wait for news."

Elena nodded. "I gotta take Jeremy home. And by the looks of it, Jessica too."

"No way." Elena raised an eyebrow at her sister. "If Jenna sees me like this, I'm screwed."

"Probably best," she agreed.

"Elena, there's no way I'm psychic," Bonnie said suddenly. "I know that. But whatever I saw, or I think I saw, I have this feeling..."

"Bonnie, what?" Elena questioned, pressing for her to continue.

Then Bonnie said the creepiest line Jessica could have imagined. "That it's just the beginning."

* * *

"They took my breath away, the twins. They're dead ringers for Katherine. I've noticed your preference for one of them, Elena. Well, that's not too bad, I suppose. I'll just have the other one." His features darkened as he stepped towards his brother. "Is it working, Stefan? Being around her, being in her world? Does it make you feel alive?"

"She's not Katherine," Stefan said. "And Jessica isn't either."

"Well, let's hope not," Damon replied."We both know how that ended. Tell me something, when's the last time you had something stronger than a squirrel?"

"I know what you're doing, Damon. It's not gonna work," Stefan snapped. For a hundred years, Damon had tried every so often to get him to break his diet, usually, it didn't work. Unless he brought fresh human blood into the picture.

"Yeah? Come on. Don't you crave a little?" He preceded to hit Stefan.

"Stop it," Stefan growled.

"Let's do it," Damon said. "Together. I saw a couple girls out there. Or let's just cut to the chase and go for Elena and Jessica."

"Stop it!" Stefan began to yell.

Damon continued to taunt him. "Imagine what their blood tastes like!" Black veins crept up to Stefan's green eyes, which had now transformed into a much darker shade. "I can."

"I said stop!"

He vamped up to Damon and threw him out the window, shattering glass in the process. He landed on the ground, but he couldn't find Damon.

"I'm impressed." His brother was standing, not a scratch on him. "I give it a six. Missing style, but I was pleasantly surprised. Very good with the whole face thing. It was good."

"You know, it's all fun and games, Damon, huh? But wherever you go, people _die_."

Damon shrugged, like it didn't matter to him. "That's a given."

"Not here. I won't allow it."

Damon looked very happy, which irritated his brother to no ends. "I take that as an invitation."

"Damon, please. After all these years, can't we just give it a rest?" Stefan begged.

"I promised you an eternity of misery, so I'm just keeping my word," he snarled.

"Just stay away from Elena," Stefan warned. "And Jessica," he added as an afterthought.

"Where's your ring?" Damon smirked once again. "Oh, yeah, sun's coming up in a couple of hours, and, poof, ashes to ashes. Relax. It's right here." He gripped Stefan's throat and threw him against the garage door. "You should know better than to think you're stronger than me. You lost that fight when you stopped feeding on people. I wouldn't try it again. I think we woke Zach up."

* * *

"Are you sober yet?" Bonnie asked.

Jessica continued to drink her coffee. "No."

"Keep drinking. I gotta get you home. I gotta get _me_ home," she told the drunk girl.

The brunette set her mug on the table and sighed. "Why didn't he go for me? You know, how come the guys that I want never want me?"

"I'm not touching that," Bonnie said, shaking her head.

"I'm impulsive," Jessica started. "I do bad things that I regret and then I end up hurting people I care about. And, I say the wrong thing. Elena..." She scoffed, something about Elena made her upset immediately. "She doesn't even have to try! He just picks her and it's not fair. She's always the one that everyone picks for everything! And I try so, _so _hard, but I'm... I'm never the one."

"It's not a competition, Jessica," she said, sighing.

_You don't have to live with her, _Jessica wanted to reply, but she held her tongue. "Yeah, it is." Bonnie opened her mouth to respond, but she couldn't think of anything to say. "You just... go home. I'll call Jenna. I'll be okay."

"You sure?"

She nodded. "I'm fine. Perfectly fine."

There wasn't a word to describe how much she detested the word 'fine.'

Bonnie nodded and stood up, giving her small smile before leaving. Jessica just wanted to be alone to wallow in her sorrows. Matt would have chosen Elena over her. She was driving herself mad thinking about it.

A few minutes later, she lifted her head up and saw a handsome stranger at the table in front of her. He smiled kindly at her. And she smiled back.

Maybe he was what she needed to get herself out of this funk.

* * *

Jenna scolded her in a very parental way (she gave her kudos for the new parental figure approach) and sent her to her room. She didn't mind. She planned to write in her diary anyway when she got home.

_Dear diary,_

_Today, I met a stranger. Well, not really 'met him,' more like smiled at him. And he smiled back! Maybe I'll see him again. Next time, I'll muster the courage to talk to him. I want to be happy again. I want someone to make me feel loved without questioning their intentions. _

_I've had a bad day. One of the worst days of my life, second only to the night my parents died which also happened to be the night I slept with Tyler Lockwood. I don't want to be alone anymore. I want love, like what I had with Matt. But he pretty much hates me... and I honestly can't blame him._

_Next time I write in here, maybe I'll tell you all about mystery man._

_Yours sincerely,_  
_ Jessica_

* * *

_A/N: Should I continue? Or is this a pile of crap? Please follow, favourite and review!_


	2. Night of the Comet

_**Author's Note: **__I woke up to around twenty alerts today. Thank you guys! Your reviews were just super lovely! And Jessica will be taking Caroline's place, but only in the Damon situation as far as I'm concerned. I think that if Elena had a twin, Damon would use her as his human blood bag instead of Caroline, especially if she looked like Katherine, but I'm going to develop their relationship within the next few seasons. _

_Enjoy!_

* * *

**The Night of the Comet**

"Do I look adult? As in respectfully parental?" Jenna asked Elena when she came out of her room.

"Depends on where you're going," Elena replied.

"Jeremy's parent-teacher conference," she told her niece. "Hair up or down?"

Jenna twisted her hair into a bun. "Sexy stewardess." She dropped her strawberry blonde hair. "Boozy housewife."

Jenna chuckled. "Up it is. You're feisty today."

"I feel good, which is rare," Elena said. "So I've decided to go with it. Fly free, walk on the sunshine, and all that stuff. Where's Jeremy?"

"He left early. Something about getting to wood shop early to finish a birdhouse." Then it dawned on the young guardian. "There is no wood shop, is there?"

Elena shook her head. "No."

"Yeah..."

Jessica came out of her room. "You look nice today, Jenna," she said to the adult, smiling at her before going downstairs.

Jenna and Elena stared at each other, gaping slightly. "Did she just give me a compliment?" Jenna asked.

Elena nodded, looking as if she had just seen an alien. "I think she did."

Once again, Jenna's eyes widened in realisation. "She wants something. I've never known Jessica to give a compliment to _anyone _unless she wants something."

"That has to be it," Elena agreed.

"Definitely."

* * *

Tanner rambled on as Elena and Stefan had some more eye-sex. "Originally discovered nearly five centuries ago, it hasn't been over Mystic Falls in over one hundred and forty five years. Now, the comet will be its brightest right after dusk during tomorrow's celebration. Are we bothering you, Mr. Salvatore? Ms. Gilbert?"

Elena and Stefan told themselves from each other's gaze. _Bleh_.

On the way out, Jessica, Bonnie and Caroline bunched up as Elena went with her new beau. "So, Jessica, what happened after I left?" Bonnie asked.

Her face lit up as she smiled. "Well, there was this guy... he had black hair and bright blue eyes..." She sighed dreamily, but her face soon turned into a scowl. "But he left before I could get his number. Like, disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Bonnie questioned.

"Poof." Jessica did a funny hand gesture.

Bonnie laughed and nodded. "Poof."

Caroline giggled girlishly. "Hey, so what's going on with you guys lately? We haven't really talked."

Jessica shrugged. "Nothing much. Just dealing with the family. Oh!" She looked over to Bonnie and grinned. "Bonnie is a psychic."

"Psychic?" Caroline repeated.

"Something like that." Bonnie shrugged. "When I touch things... I get weird visions. It's probably nothing."

"I'm confused. Are you psychic or clairvoyant?" the blonde asked.

"Technically, Grams says I'm a witch. My ancestors were these really cool Salem witch chicks or something. Grams tried to explain it all, but she was looped on the liquor so I kinda tuned out. Crazy family, yes. Witches? I don't think so," Bonnie explained.

"Yeah, well, feel free to conjure up the name and number of that guy from last night," Jessica said dreamily.

"I didn't see him, you did. Why didn't you just talk to him?"

"I don't know. I was drunk."

Caroline patted her back. "We all were, honey."

* * *

After school, Bonnie, Caroline, Elena and Jessica went to the Grill. Bonnie was telling them about the comet.

"Well, I was talking to Grams, and she said the comet is a sign of impending doom. The last time it passed over Mystic Falls, there was lots of death. So much blood and carnage, it created a bed of paranormal activity," Bonnie told them.

"Yeah, and then you poured Grams another shot and she told you about the aliens." She turned to Elena, who had told the three girls about her and Stefan's long chat last night. "So then what?"

"So then nothing."

"You and Stefan talked all night? There was no sloppy first kiss or touchy feely of any kind?" Caroline pressed.

"Nope. We didn't go there," Elena said.

"Not even a handshake? I mean, Elena, we're your friends, okay? You are supposed to share the smut!"

"Maybe Elena wants to get to know him." Caroline shot Jessica an odd look, fit for an alien. "I know, bizarre, right?"

"So... _smut_!" Caroline looked as though she was about to jump up with glee. Jessica figured that 'smut' was her favourite topic. "Share, now!"

Elena shrugged. "We just talked for hours."

"Okay, what is with the blockage? Just jump his bones already! It's easy. Boy likes girl, girl likes boy, sex!"

She rolled her eyes. "Profound," Elena said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Bonnie asked her.

"Caroline's right," Elena stated confidently. "It is easy. If I sit here long enough, I'll end up talking myself out of it instead of doing what I started the day saying what I was going to do."

Jessica stood up abruptly, slamming her fist on the table. "You're gonna sleep with him?" she shrieked.

That got a lot of people's attention... including an elderly couple having a nice meal in the corner. Her face went red and flaming hot. _Why do I get into the awkward situations? _Then she remembered Elena... the brunette basically told the whole Mystic Grill that Elena wanted to sleep with Stefan Salvatore.

Elena glared at her before rushing out of the Grill, her cheeks burning. Jessica sat back down and slumped, maybe the table could hide her?

Bonnie glanced pointedly towards someone beside her. She straightened up and looked to her side. "Tyler," she greeted, kind of growling. "What the hell do you want?"

"I want to apologise." Her eyes widened. _Tyler Lockwood... apologising? _She never thought she'd see the day. "It was wrong of me to try and force you into it."

"Well, it's too late for apologies, isn't it?" Jessica snapped.

"How can I make it up to you?" Tyler asked.

"You can leave me alone!" she insisted, tempted to throw the salt shaker at him.

Tyler held his hands up. "Alright, alright. I just came to say I'm sorry."

As he left, Jessica narrowed her eyes and glared blankly at thin air. Caroline immediately jumped on her. "Tyler tried to force himself on you?" Caroline whispered furiously. "Isn't there laws against that?"

"Yes," Jessica growled. "I hate him. I've never actually properly hated someone, but I _hate _him."

"You should tell his mom," Bonnie said.

Jessica shook her head. "I don't want to make a big deal out of this."

"But it _is_ a big deal," she pointed out. "I saw you afterwards, you looked... broken. I haven't seen you like that in a while."

Caroline gave her sympathetic look. Jessica glared at the two of them. "Just, let me do what I want." She noticed Jeremy sitting at the counter. "Oh great, looks like Jeremy heard all of this."

"What's so wrong with that?" Bonnie asked. "He already knows..."

"He _hates _Tyler Lockwood," Jessica told her. "Even more than I do. Anything will set him off and he'll get in a fight with him. And we both know who'll win."

"Tyler," Caroline said, nodding in agreement.

"Well," Bonnie started. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

Jessica studied Bonnie. Wasn't it odd that a few minutes ago she was basically telling her to report Tyler? "Right. Okay. I've gotta get home."

Just as Bonnie and Caroline were about to tell her to sit down, she grabbed her bag and rushed off.

* * *

"He's on the rebound and has raging family issues," Elena said.

"Well, at least it's an ex-girlfriend. Wait till you date a guy with mommy issues or cheating issues. Or amphetamine issues," Jenna told her.

Jessica knitted her eyebrows together as she tried to think of something wrong with Matt. There was nothing wrong with Matt. He was perfect and kind... and she blew it.

Jeremy barged into the house. "Jeremy? Jeremy, where were you?" Jenna asked.

Jeremy was walking up the stairs. He was obviously stoned. "More stoner stories? Maybe I'll listen when Jessica quits acting like the perfect little angel child." Jessica opened her mouth to snap back at him. "I mean, look at what happened with Matt, and I doubt she told you what Tyler Lockwood tried on her last night. She didn't even tell anyone about it."

"This isn't about Jessica," Jenna snapped. "This is about you. I know what you're going through-"

"Look, Jenna, I get it, you were cool. And so that's... that's cool."

He attempted to continue going up the stairs. "Oh, no, no, no!" Jenna yelled, throwing an apple at him.

Jessica laughed. "Ow! Why? Why... why did you do that?"

"Listen up! Quit ditching class or you're grounded. No discussion."

Jeremy grinned. "Parental authority, I like it. Sleep tight."

He went up the stairs as Jenna groaned. She advanced on Jessica. "What happened with Tyler?"

"It was nothing, Jenna, I-"

"Jessica Miranda Gilbert, what the hell happened?" Jenna pressed. She pursed her lips tightly. "I swear to God..."

"Fine!" she gave in. "We had a huge argument, and he wanted us to get together despite Matt being his best friend." Elena scowled. "I said no! Quit the judging! So, he tried to get me to have with him against a tree. Like... eh, force me into it."

Jenna gaped. "And you didn't tell me?"

She crossed her arms. "I didn't think I had to."

Jenna had no clue what to do when she went for the phone. "Um... I should call Mrs. Lockwood. Yeah, that's what I'll do."

Jessica grabbed the phone and held it away from her. "_No_."

"She needs to know what her son's doing!" Jenna said. She held her hand out for the phone. "Give it."

"He apologised," she told Jenna. "He said he was sorry. He won't do it again. Please, Jenna."

Jenna shook her head. "They all say that. Trust me, Jess, he'll try again."

"Jenna..." she drawled pleadingly, trying to get her to see reason.

She let out a loud sigh. "Fine. But you are not allowed to be alone with him. Elena, make sure she's not alone with him." Elena nodded. "I never liked that boy. I don't know why you slept with him when you had Matt."

Jessica plopped down on the couch. "I don't know either."

* * *

Bonnie, Jessica and Elena were handing out pamphlets for the Night of the Comet. "Tonight, Night of the Comet! Would you like a program?" She turned to Elena. "Would you like a program? He didn't call, huh?"

"Or text," Elena said. "But I realised we never even exchanged that stuff. We've never gotten to the texting part."

"That's an important milestone in any relationship," Bonnie replied.

Jessica tried her best to tune them out. She didn't want to hear about Elena's love life with Stefan Salvatore. It was just another reminder that she wasn't good enough and today, she felt happy and confident.

"Isn't it? The timing is wrong, anyway," she said.

Bonnie shrugged. "When is it ever right?"

Elena shook her head. "I'm not ready, Bonnie."

"Who is?"

"At least I put myself out there," she said.

Bonnie looked at her best friend. "Is that what you're calling it?"

Elena's pretty, oval face twisted in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"All I'm hearing is reasons why you can't."

Jessica turned her head. A raven-haired man with icy blue eyes and flawless skin stood near where she was handing out pamphlets. He smirked at her. Jessica liked that he had the bad boy look going on. Maybe he had a motorbike.

She smiled and walked over to him, but as she got closer to him, he just vanished.

_Weird._

* * *

Jessica sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. Thankfully, the bartender didn't mind serving teens drink as long as they didn't tell anyone.

"Tequila please."

She turned her head to see the one guy she was suppose to be avoiding. "What do you want?" she said angrily. "I told you to stay away from me."

"You're in a bad mood, then?" Tyler smirked.

"My aunt was going to tell your mom about what happened." Tyler's face fell. "I told her not to. So get the hell away from me before I change my mind."

"Hey," Tyler started. "I'm just here for a drink." As if on cue, the bartender gave him his drink. He raised it up to Jessica. "Cheers."

_Is he seriously expecting me to clink it?_

Jessica gave him her best 'are you freakin' serious' look. Tyler shrugged and down his alcohol. "You were so much nicer earlier."

"Was I? Oops, my mistake." She got up and made to leave, but Tyler clasped her wrist. "Let go, Tyler," she spat through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry, Jessica," he said. "Honestly. I am. I don't know what came over me. Must have been the full moon or something."

Jessica smiled sweetly, sickeningly sweet. She grabbed her untouched alcohol and threw it in his face. The liquid dripped from his chin onto his t-shirt. "Oops. Must have been the _full moon_," she said mockingly.

The seething girl rushed out of the Grill. Caroline saw her and practically skipped over to her. "Hey, there you are! Come on."

She dragged her over to where Bonnie, Elena and Matt were.

"Hey, I got some candles."

Caroline lit hers, and then lit Matt. He turned to Jessica. "Hey."

"Uh, hi," she stammered, not daring to look at him. "About last night-"

"Can we not talk about that?" Matt asked as he lit her candle. "I just... I don't know anymore when it comes to you."

She nodded, the candle flame was reflected in her teary eyes. "Yeah, right. I totally get it."

She turned and lit Stefan's candle, who lit Elena's.

* * *

Hey, has anyone seen Vicki?" Jeremy asked them.

"You're her stalker. You tell us," Tyler spat.

"I can't find her," Jeremy said, ignoring Tyler.

"She probably found somebody else to party with. Sorry, pill pusher, I guess you've been replaced," Tyler snapped.

"What's with the pill pusher?" Elena pressed.

"Ask him." Tyler gestured to Jeremy.

"You wanna do this right now?"

Elena put her hands on her hips. "Are you dealing?"

"Elena-"

Tyler interrupted him. "She's never gonna go for you."

"She already did. Over and over and over again," Jeremy teased, smirking.

Jessica's features scrunched up in disgust. She didn't tell Jeremy about her sex life (granted, he probably knew. The whole school knew) and Jessica really did not want to hear about his.

"Yeah, right," the football jerk said in disbelief.

"You slept with Vicki Donovan? I mean, Vicki Donovan slept with you?" Caroline questioned.

Tyler shook his head. "There's no way."

"And I didn't even have to force her into it. Like you did with Jessica."

Everyone turned to look at the curly-haired brunette. Matt didn't know, neither did Stefan. "What the hell is he talking about, Ty?" Matt pressed, anger and guilt boiling inside of him. "Did she even consent to sleeping with you the first time?"

Jessica clenched her fists. This was the _hundredth _time people discussed her sex life - her business - without even caring about how she felt about it. "Yeah she did, Matt, just ignore him, he's a punk," Tyler urged.

"You know what, how about all of you shut up and help me find my sister?" Matt asked angrily.

"We'll check the back," Bonnie said.

"I'll check the square," the quarterback told them.

Jeremy was eager to join him. "I'll come with you."

Elena grabbed Jeremy and pulled him away. "No, you're coming with me."

"Hey, Jess," Matt said. The brunette whipped around. "Will you, uh, come with me? I think we should talk."

She nodded frantically. She wanted to talk to him since the day he found out. "Yeah. That'd be great."

He smiled and led her out to the square, keeping an eye out for Vicki. "So... what did happen between you and Tyler?" Matt asked.

Jessica fidgeted with her jacket. "Well, at the party, we had an argument."

"What about?"

"He wanted to... God this is awkward." She let out a strained laugh and continued. "He wanted us to get together or... uh, something like that." Matt tensed beside her. She could almost feel the anger coming from him. "We went into the woods and he tried to force me to have sex with him against a tree."

"Dick," Matt growled. "He told me that you were the one who initiated it."

Jessica's jaw dropped. "_Me_?"

He nodded. "Look, I'm sorry I was so harsh with you."

"I deserved it."

He was a little shocked. Jessica was a little spoiled and rarely ever accepted it when she did something wrong. She was always the one in the right. "But, I... that whole fiasco was difficult for me. I don't think I can ever forgive you."

Jessica took a step back, as if someone shot her. "I... I understand."

Truth was, she didn't understand. For once, she knew she did something wrong. She knew she was the guilt party, why could he just forgive her? She couldn't have hurt him that bad! Sure, his pride was damaged, but he could get over that.

"I'm gonna head back, she's obviously not here." He stopped in his tracks. "I'll see you at school."

"Yeah, bye," she said, her voice was shaking.

He nodded and backed away. She took a seat on the park bench and held her face in her hands. "Why am I so stupid?" she exclaimed angrily into her hands. "Gahh!"

She wanted scream and punch everything in sight. She knew she had reached pathetic level when the tears started to find their way down her cheeks. _I blew it. I had a great boyfriend and I blew it. _The self-pity was suffocating her. Elena wouldn't have handled it like this if she was in her situation. _Elena wouldn't have got herself in my situation. _

She stood up and wiped the tears from underneath her eyes.

_No more depressed Jessica. _Yeah, like that was gonna happen.

* * *

"Ugh, it's just so much drama. Ever notice how the druggies are the biggest attention whores?" Caroline asked.

They were seated at a table in the Grill. Bonnie nodded. "Yeah."

"It kind of comes with the druggie thing," Jessica said, holding her head up with her hand. "Secretly, they want to be saved. They want all the attention on them, even if it's not good attention. And since Vicki's mom is a total lacky, she's deprived of the maternal attention that she needs." Bonnie and Caroline stared at her. Jessica wasn't the intelligent type of girl that would know all that kind of stuff. They thought that she was completely ignorant. She shrugged. "What? I read it in a magazine article once."

"Excuse me. Hi."

Jessica looked up. Stefan Salvatore was standing by their table. "Hi," Bonnie said kindly.

"Um, have you guys seen Elena?" Stefan asked.

"I think she went home," Bonnie said. "I'm gonna give you Elena's cell number and her email. She is big on texting, and you can tell her... 'I said so'."

She smiled at him and handed him the piece of paper. "Thank you." Bonnie had another one of those 'zone out' things that she was known for frequently having. "You okay?"

"What happened to you?" she blurted out. Realising how rude that sounded, she quickly corrected herself. "That's so rude. I'm sorry. Excuse me."

"Yeah, she kind of wigs out. It's like her thing," Caroline said.

"You get used to it after a while," Jessica added, sipping at her coffee.

* * *

"Jer?" Elena called, entering her brother's room.

"No, it's me," Jenna said. "The hypocrite patrol."

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I've become my worst nightmare. The authority figure who has to violate a fifteen year old's privacy." She found drugs in his sock drawer. "Jackpot. I see the hiding places haven't gotten any more creative."

"What brought this on?"

"Your ass-hat of a history teacher shamed me good yesterday," she explained, the memory of Mr. Tanner still fresh on her mind.

Elena nodded understandingly. "You got tannered. Been there."

"'Discover the impossible, Ms. Sommers.' Got it. Thanks. Like I didn't know I was screwing up," Jenna snapped.

"You're not screwing up, Aunt Jenna."

"Yes, I am," Jenna argued. "You know why? Because I'm not her. She made everything look so easy. You know, high school, marriage, having you guys. She even made raising Jessica look easy! I can't do it. I'm gonna say or do the wrong thing, and Jeremy's gonna get worse, and it's gonna be my fault. It's impossible."

"This is just the fear talking. You're a little scared, that's all. We all are. I have to go do something. But are you going to be okay?"

Jenna nodded, thankful for a niece like Elena.

* * *

Jessica walked up to her car. Between Vicki Donovan, Matt's heartbreaking statement and then no hot guy, it was a pretty shitty day. Not as bad as the night of the party, but still pretty bad.

She dropped her keys on the pavement. She bent down to pick them up, when she straightened up, she noticed the guy from last night. "Oh... whoa."

"Sorry," he said. "Didn't mean to scare you."

She smiled. "Oh, no. It's fine. I was hoping I'd see you again."

He smirked. "I know."

Jessica quirked an eyebrow. "Cocky much?"

"Very much."

She laughed softly at the stranger. "So, are you gonna tell me your name or..."

"Damon," he introduced. "Damon Salvatore. I believe you know my baby brother, Stefan."

Jessica nodded. "I have a few classes with him. I'm Jessica. Jessica Gilbert."

"Well, then, Jessica," he said, stepping aside and gesturing to the Grill. "Can I interest you in a drink?"

She smiled. "Yes, you can."

* * *

"Wow, this place is huge!" Jessica exclaimed as she entered the Salvatore boarding house.

Damon grinned. The girl was nothing like Katherine, where Katherine was intelligent and seductive, Jessica was silly, frivolous and dunce. It was her face that interested him. Her eyes were the same brown as Katherine's, but softer. Her hair was less curly and more wavy. Her skin, like Katherine's, was just as tanned and flawless.

He turned on the stereo. "Would you like to dance?" Jessica giggled and took his hand.

As cliché as it was, Damon knew the way to a silly girl's heart was through dancing and flattery. "You're very beautiful, you know," Damon complimented.

"Thank you," she replied sweetly.

She wasn't a good dancer, but he blamed it on her being super drunk. He spun her around and dipped her. How he wished it was Katherine... but he had to wait and this girl would have to do.

Staring into her eyes, he brought her lips to meet his. It was easy getting her to like him. She was insecure and superficial, but from what he had found out, Jessica had a good heart.

The kiss became heated and passionate, the two of them knew where it was heading. She pulled off her jacket as Damon unbuttoned his shirt. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Quicker than she thought possible, he picked her up bridal style and carried her up to his room. Stefan was, no doubt, with his doppelganger. Damon would have fun with his.

He laid her on the bed, well, he _threw _her onto the bed. She tugged off her dress as Damon took off his pants. When they were both only in their underwear, he kissed her stomach, all the way up to her neck.

Then Jessica received the fright of her life when he looked up, veins protruded from underneath his black eyes and fangs coming from his gums.

His teeth pierced into her skin. Jessica screamed.

* * *

_Review, follow and favourite! Any pairings you'd like to see?_


	3. Friday Night Bites

**Friday Night Bites**

Jessica woke up, her hair was stained with blood as well as the pillow she slept on. Damon... he _bit _her. He fed on her.

Damon was a vampire.

Did that make Stefan one too? She was scared. If he knew she was awake... he'd feed on her again. He had done some weird thing with his eyes that made her go to sleep. He told her that she was tired, but she hadn't been tired at all. She was wide awake.

They didn't have sex, from what she could remember. He fed on her, almost completely drained her of her blood. It was scary. _He _was scary.

What was even weirder, was that he kept on calling her Katherine. Every time he pulled away slightly from feeding on her, he'd call her Katherine.

There were bite marks on her neck, her wrist, her stomach, inside of her thigh and on her chest, just above her breast.

She slowly got out of the bed, not wanting to wake a sleeping Damon. She tip-toed over to the door and picked up her dress.

"Good morning."

She spun around on her heel. "Please... don't."

The only thing she could use as a weapon was the lamp on his chest of drawers. "Don't do that. Ah, ah, ah."

She hit him in the head with the lamp. It didn't do anything, it didn't even maim him slightly. He looked untouched. It only made him angry. "No! Get away from me!"

Jessica grabbed the pillow, covered in her blood and threw it at Damon, who caught it. "This could have gone a completely different way."

He smelled the pillow, more specifically, her blood and his face changed. He pounced on her and bit her in the neck, getting her artery.

"Ah!" Jessica screamed.

He pulled away and looked at her. His pupils dilated. "You're not afraid."

"I'm not afraid," she repeated robotically.

"You won't tell anyone about my dirty little secret," he said, smirking.

"I won't tell anyone about your secret."

"Good. You're going to let me feed on you. I'm your new boyfriend and you're totally into me!" he said the last bit in a mock girly teenager voice.

"I'm totally into you" He got off of her, satisfied, and stepped back. Jessica sat up, snapping back into reality. "Why am I not afraid? What are you?"

Her voice was calmer than she thought it would be.

"I'm a one hundred and seventy year old vampire," he told her. His confession didn't scare her in the slightest. "And, I was one of the first settlers here in 1864. I fell in love with a girl named Katherine Pierce, you actually look exactly like her. You're her doppelganger."

Confusion was etched on Jessica's face. "I'm her what?"

"A doppelganger. An exact copy of another being," he explained. "Katherine was a five-hundred year old vampire, who took a liking to both me and Stefan, she wouldn't choose. She was the one who turned us, actually."

"So, Stefan's a vampire too," Jessica said, standing up.

"Duh!" Damon replied. "You're not very bright, are you? You're lucky you have such a pretty face!" He tapped her nose with his finger gently.

"I have her face," Jessica realised. "That's why you're interested in me."

"Of course!" Damon boomed. "Why else would I be interested in you?"

_Am I a pinata or something? Why do people always feel the need to hurt me? _She swallowed back tears. She just wanted to crawl under a rock and die.

Damon stroked her hair gently and smiled at her. "It's okay, Jessie. You'll get used to it. Now, I want you to go to school."

"I have cheerleading practice today," she said.

"Ooh! Maybe I'll watch," Damon replied with faux excitement.

Jessica didn't notice the way he faked it and smiled. "Good, I'd like that. I have to go home and get my uniform. Will you come with me?"

He nodded and kissed her forehead. "Of course."

* * *

"Did I tell you how ravishing you look in that skirt?" Damon asked, taking note of her short skirt, which he had picked out himself.

Jessica giggled. "Around ten times."

He parked the car outside of the school. "Alright, have a good day."

She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him, longer than she intended to. He winked at her as she got out of the car.

Matt was passing the ball to Tyler, but his attention was on his ex-girlfriend. "Who's that?" he asked, his attention fixed on the older guy in the car.

Tyler shrugged. "Who knows? Probably Jessica Gilbert's latest victim. You know how she is."

"You're a dick," Matt growled. "You lied to me about the whole Jessica situation."

"Oh, so you're believing her now?" Tyler scoffed. "What happened to bros before hoes?"

"You were the one who said that, not me," Matt pointed out. Jessica had gone over to Stefan and Elena.

"We're having dinner tonight, wanna come?" Elena asked her sister. "Bonnie's gonna be there, so is Stefan. She's being a little over-protective."

"I'd love to!" Jessica said happily. "So, you guys a thing now?"

Elena nodded. She knew that her twin had an interest in Stefan, so she had to tread carefully. "Yeah, we are."

"That's great!" she exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you two!"

Even Stefan was giving her odd looks. "Oh, uh, thanks," Elena stammered. "So, see you at dinner?"

She nodded excitedly. "Mhm. I've gotta get my books." The brunette wrapped her arms around her identical twin sister. "Bye!"

Tyler noticed how his friend stared after the skipping minx. "Wow, bro, you're totally whipped," he commented. "I mean, I'd get Elena, but Jessica? She's a bitch."

"What made you sleep with her then, huh?" Matt pressed.

Tyler caught the ball, but didn't throw it back. "She-"

"Oh, she seduced you, did she?" he snapped, knowing perfectly what Tyler was about to say. "Because Jessica somehow turned into a siren. Just accept it, you're pissed because she didn't want you."

He scoffed. "Yeah. Sure. Believe her side of the story over mine, your best friend."

"Some best friend you are," Matt replied.

Tyler glared at him, tempted to throw the ball his way, but he didn't. Instead he threw it at that cocky new guy, Stefan Salvatore, but surprisingly, he caught it and threw it back at him.

* * *

"World war II ended in... Anyone got anything? Miss Juan?" Tanner asked the class.

"1945."

"Pearl Harbor, Miss Gilbert?"

"Yes?" Elena and Jessica both responded.

"_Elena_," Tanner said pointedly. "Pearl harbor."

"Um..."

Stefan decided to be Elena's saving grace, _again_. "December 7, 1941."

"Thank you, Miss Gilbert," Tanner mocked.

Stefan smiled at him. "Anytime."

"Very well. The fall of the Berlin wall."

"1989. I'm good with dates, sir."

"Are you? How good? Keep it to the year. Civil Rights Act."

"1964."

"John F. Kennedy assassination."

"1963."

"Martin Luther King."

"'68."

"Lincoln."

"1865."

"Roe vs. Wade."

"1973."

"Brown vs. Board."

"1954."

"The battle of Gettysburg."

"1863."

"Korean war."

"1950 to 1953."

Tanner suddenly looked very happy. Why was he so happy that his student failed? "Ha! It ended in '52!"

"Uh, actually, sir, it was '53," Stefan corrected him.

His happy expression dropped. "Look it up, somebody. Quickly."

The sound of books being shuffled through echoed through the class. "It was 19... 53."

* * *

Jessica stuffed her clothes into her bag. The cheerleading outfit was incredibly short, but that was how it had been for years. She never complained, none of the cheerleaders did. Secretly, they all loved the attention.

She was walking onto the pitch when she heard a husky voice behind her. "Hello."

She giggled and spun around. "What are you doing here?"

"I said I'd watch your practice," Damon said. "I'm not going to break that promise. Oh, don't worry. I'll watch from a safe distance."

She nodded. "Yeah, sure." She pecked him on the lips. "I've gotta go, but Elena's having a dinner tonight, Bonnie and Stefan are gonna be there. Would you like to come?"

Damon smirked. "I'd love to. See ya later."

"Bye," she said, walking over to the cheerleader's. Elena gave her an odd look. "I got the other brother. Hope you don't mind."

Caroline crossed her arms. "As top of the pyramid, you're expected to be here _on time_."

Jessica rolled her eyes. "Whatever, can we just get started?"

"Fine." She turned back to the squad. "Alright, let's start with the double pike herkey hurdler, what do you say?" They all did the motions as Caroline counted. "And five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight. Elena, sweetie, why don't you just observe today?" Elena walked away from practice. Jessica guessed that she wasn't into it in the first place. "Keep going! Okay, do it again from the top. And five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight."

* * *

Stefan entered his bedroom. His brother - the bane of his existence - was lying on his bed, reading his journal. "How were tryouts? Did you make the team? Very Emerson, the way you reveal your soul with so many... Adjectives."

He ripped his diary out of Damon's grip, causing the older vampire to smirk. "What are you doing here?"

"I've come to apologise," Damon began. "I've been doing some thinking, some soul searching, and... I want us to start over. We need to put the past behind us. You're my little brother, and if you want to live a normal, happy human life, then I want that for you. Maybe I can do it, too. That I can learn to be a non-living living person. Maybe there's hope for both of us." Damon tried his best to keep a straight face, but burst out laughing.

"You know, it doesn't have to be this way, Damon," Stefan said.

"Of course it doesn't. I saw Elena today, BTW. That means 'by the way.' She was at cheerleading practice. She looked so perky in her little short shorts." Stefan tensed up. "Just... simmer down, I didn't even go near her. I've got my own cheerleader now, my own doppelganger. Ooh, that reminds me... I gotta run. I have a date. Sweaty palms. Wish me luck!"

* * *

"Right, so, let's go through the rules," Damon said as he drove to Jessica's house.

She scoffed. "_Rules_? It's kind of my house."

"Well, I'm the vampire in this relationship," he stated. He turned his head towards her and compelled her. "So, no taking off that scarf. If Stefan sees those bite marks he'll go berserk! He feeds on animals, not humans. And he's very judgy, my brother."

"Animals?" Jessica pressed.

"Yup, can you imagine?" Damon ranted. "All the Bambi's Stefan has killed over the years. His self-control is horrible when it comes to human blood. If he smells it, he'll pounce and bye-bye human! Make sure you don't get a paper-cut."

"Does Elena know that he's a vampire?"

"Nope," he replied, popping the 'p'. "And I don't think Stefan wants her to know. So, don't tell her."

"I thought you hated Stefan," Jessica mused.

"Oh, I do," he said. "But you already know about vampires and that's one human too many, but I have you perfectly under control."

"Here it is," Jessica said, pointing to her house.

"Ah, lovely." He pulled over.

Jessica slammed the door shut and walked up to the porch, Damon following her. She opened the door with her key.

Elena, Bonnie and Stefan were waiting for them. "Surprise! I hope you don't mind, but I brought a plus one."

Damon smiled at Elena. "If that's okay?"

"What are you doing here?" Stefan all but growled.

"Waiting for Jessica to invite me in," he said, sending Jessica a pointed look.

"Oh, yeah, you can..."

Stefan interrupted her. "No, no, no. He can't, uh... he can't stay. Can you, Damon?"

"Get in here," Jessica urged.

"We're just... finishing up," Stefan said.

Damon made a big deal of stepping over the threshold. "You have a lovely home, Elena."

Elena looked at her boyfriend's older brother skeptically. "Thank you."

* * *

"I can't believe Tanner let you on the team," Jessica said. "I thought he hated you. Tyler must be seething, but good for you, I suppose. Go for it."

Damon placed a hand on her leg, playing happy couple. "That's what I always tell him. You have to engage. You can't just sit there and wait for life to come to you. You have to go get it."

"Yeah, Elena wasn't so lucky today," Jessica said. "Caroline booted her out. She kind of just retreated into a shell after our parent's died."

Bonnie gaped at her as Elena flinched back. There was something going on with her sister, Elena realised. "I'm sorry, Elena," Damon said with over-exaggerated sympathy. "I know what it's like to lose both your parents. In fact, Stefan and I have watched almost every single person we've ever cared about die."

"We don't need to get into that right now, Damon," Stefan said snappishly.

"Oh, you know what, you're right, Stef," he replied. "I'm sorry. The last thing I wanted to do was bring_ her _up. Mm..."

Stefan, Bonnie and Jessica went into a conversation about the football team, Tanner and Elena's favourite hobbies. Said girl had slipped away to do the dishes. Damon left the three of them and brought in a plate from the kitchen.

"One more," Damon said, handing her the plate.

"Oh, thank you," Elena replied.

He was about to give her a glass, but dropped it. Using his vampire reflexes, Damon caught the glass and gave it to her.

"Nice save," Elena complimented.

"I like you," he stated. "You know how to laugh. And you make Stefan smile, which is something I haven't seen in a very long time."

"Earlier, did you mean... Katherine?" Elena asked.

"Mhm," he answered, nodding.

"How did she die?" she questioned.

"In a fire. Tragic fire."

"Recently?"

A serious yet thoughtful look crossed Damon's usual smirking face. "It seems like it was yesterday."

"What was she like?" Katherine's copy further pressed.

"She was beautiful," Damon said. "A lot like you and your sister in that department. She was also very complicated and selfish and at times not very kind, but very sexy and seductive."

Elena raised an eyebrow. "So, which one of you dated her first?"

"Nicely deduced. Ask Stefan. I'm sure his answer differs from mine. I'd quit cheerleading if I were you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Oh, I saw you at practice," Damon informed the doppelganger. "You looked miserable."

"You saw that?"

"Am I wrong?"

"I used to love it," she told him. "It was fun. Things are different this year. Everything that used to matter doesn't anymore."

Damon shrugged. "So don't let it. Quit, move on. Problem solved. Ta-da."

"Some things could matter again," she argued.

"Maybe," he said thoughtfully. "But... seems a little unrealistic to me."

"I'm sorry." He looked confused. "About Katherine. You lost her, too."

He liked Elena, even more than her sister. She was intelligent and kind. If only he and Stefan could swap doppelganger's.

"Hey. Need some help?" Bonnie Bennett asked. She was a witch, as the vampire was sure she'd find out soon enough.

Damon smiled at her. "Sure, why not?"

Jessica was rambling to Stefan, who was only interested in the scarf wrapped around her neck. "Elena was dating Jordan Davis before the accident, then she dumped his ass. He's on the football team, by the way. You might want to steer clear of him. He has a nasty temper, but Elena said he could be really sweet when he wanted to be."

"That's a really nice scarf," Stefan commented.

She tugged at the end of it. "Oh, thank you. It's new."

"Can I see it?" She raised an eyebrow. "I mean, would you mind taking it off?"

She was about to move her hand to take it off, but something stopped her from doing so. "Oh, I can't..."

Stefan noticed how confused she sounded. "Why not? You okay?"

She looked as though she was trying to piece a puzzle together. "Um... All I know is that I can't take it off."

Damon came back into the room and sat down beside Jessica. "What are you two kids talking about?"

"I was just commenting on her scarf," he said, sending Damon a knowing glance.

He smirked. "Hm.. Hey, you know, um, Elena and Bonnie are finishing up the dishes. Why don't you go see if you can help?"

Jessica scoffed. "Does it look like I do dishes?" She rolled her eyes and turned back to Stefan, who smiled at her.

"For me?" Damon pressed.

"I don't think so."

He turned her to face him and compelled the doppelganger. "Go see if Elena needs help in the kitchen."

Her pupils dilated and her dazed expression was soon replaced with much more cheerful one. "Actually, I'm gonna see if Elena needs help in the kitchen."

Damon smiled. "Great idea."

She stood up and went into the kitchen. "They are people, Damon. She's not a puppet. She doesn't exist for your amusement, for you to feed on whenever you want to."

He rolled his eyes. "Sure she does. They all do. They're whatever I want them to be. They're mine for the taking."

"You're just using her because she looks like Katherine," Stefan whispered. "It's not like she _chose _to be her doppelganger. Neither of them did."

Damon glared at his brother. "Well, sucks for them."

Stefan narrowed his eyes. "Alright, you've had your fun. You used Jessica, you got to meet Elena, good for you. Now it's time for you to go."

"That's not a problem. Because... I've been invited in, and I'll come back tomorrow night and the following night and I'll do whatever I want to do with Jessica. Maybe I might even take a turn with Elena. Because that is what is normal to me."

He got up and went into the kitchen. Gently, he kissed Jessica on the cheek. "I'll see you later," he said, feigning the kind, lovely boyfriend.

"Bye," she replied softly.

Damon nodded to Bonnie and Elena before leaving the house. "He's hot," Bonnie commented.

Jessica smiled. "Isn't he?"

* * *

"Okay! One more time!" Caroline boomed. "Five, six, seven, eight. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight."

The girls copied Caroline's movements. Jessica had always been a good cheerleader, she was flexible and could do flips easily, which was why Caroline placed her at the top of the pyramid. The brunette climbed her way up onto the top, stretched out her arms before jumping down, doing a frontwards flip. Two girls, Bonnie and Dawn caught her at the end.

"Good job everyone!" Caroline said as the pyramid was dismantled.

"You must be dizzy," Bonnie commented, handing her a bottle of water.

"Actually, I feel fine." Jessica took a sip of water. As she gulped it down, she noticed Damon by the gate. He gestured for her to come over to him. "Oh. Um, I gotta go."

As she made her way over to Damon, Bonnie called, "Don't be long!"

Damon smiled at his human blood bag as she approached him. "You look sexy," he said. "You know, I'm a little hungry."

Jessica had covered the bite mark on her neck with make-up. Damon said he preferred it when she didn't, he liked it when his marks were on her. "Actually, I'm busy," Jessica argued.

"Oh, please?" he begged.

She shook her head. "No can do. Elena'll get suspicious."

He rolled his eyes and pulled her behind a wall. He pressed her against it, his arms stretching over her and his palms were against the wall. She couldn't squirm away, not that she would. "You'll let me feed on you whenever I want to. Actually, you'll just do what I say. No hesitation."

"I'll just do what you say, no hesitation," Jessica repeated.

He stepped back and grinned. "Good. Now can I have a bite?" Jessica nodded and brushed back her hair, revealing her neck. "The wrist will do."

She pulled up her sleeve, exposing her wrist. He grabbed it and brought it up to his mouth. Jessica felt no fear - thanks to his compulsion - when he bit into her wrist, or when his face became akin to a monster's.

Exhaling happily, he took his mouth away from her skin. "Thank you," he sing-songed. The vampire kissed her passionately on the lips. "Have fun!"

She nodded, smiling kindly at him. She went back to the pitch and did her stretches. Bonnie approached her. "What was that about?"

Jessica shrugged. "He just wished me luck," she lied, not that she had much choice in the matter.

Bonnie nodded, but shrieked when she saw the blood pouring from two small holes in Jessica's wrist. "Oh my God! You're bleeding!"

"What?" Jessica looked at her wrist. "Oh, he..." she stopped herself. Damon would kill her if anyone found out. "I fell. No biggie."

"Here." Bonnie handed her a towel to wipe the blood on. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah," she said, shooting her friend a reassuring smile. "Tanner's making a speech. Let's go."

She rushed away, Bonnie followed her. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait. Let's be honest here. In the past, we used to let other teams come into our town and roll right over us!" The crowd booed. "But that is about to change!" The boos quickly turned into cheers. "We've got some great new talent tonight starting on the offense, and I'm gonna tell you right now, it has been a long time since I have seen a kid like this with hands like these. Let's give it up for Stefan Salvatore!" Everyone clapped, especially Elena. "That have been waiting for us to put a check in the win column, I have only one thing to say to you... Your Timberwolves are hungry. And the Central High Lions are what's for dinner!"

The good mood faltered when Jeremy hit Tyler. The crowd circled around them, wanting to watch a fight. "Tyler, stop it! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Stop it! Stop, you're hurting him! Tyler! Tyler, stop! Tyler! Stop it! Tyler, stop!" Vicki Donovan begged.

Stefan entered the mix and grabbed Tyler's hand. "Hey, he's down! Enough!"

Tyler tried to punch Stefan, but, since Stefan was a vampire, it had no effect on him. His eyes widened. _Serves him right, _Jessica thought.

Jeremy grabbed a broken bottle and went to hit Tyler in the head with it. The jerk moved out of the way and Jeremy accidentally cut Stefan's hand. "Jeremy, no!" Elena said, rushing over to Stefan.

"Tyler, knock it off! Stop!" Matt yelled.

"What the hell, Jeremy? Put your head up, you're bleeding," Elena demanded.

"I'm fine!" Jeremy snapped.

"Yeah, you _smell _fine," she said sarcastically.

"Aren't you gonna help Elena?" Bonnie asked. "Jeremy's your brother too."

Jessica shrugged. "What can I do that Elena can't? Besides, he listens to Elena, he only thinks of me as a joke."

"I'm sure he doesn't," she argued.

Jessica shook her head. "I'm going onto the pitch. The game'll be starting soon."

Bonnie followed her onto the pitch. There was something up with her, the cheerleader deduced. Another weird thing happening in Mystic Falls. She didn't know Damon Salvatore very well, but the few times she had a run-in with him, he didn't seem very kind. In her opinion, he seemed rather stuck-up.

As if on cue, Damon Salvatore stood right in front of them. He wasted no time in kissing Jessica. Bonnie looked around, surprisingly, only a few people were paying attention. Near the dressing rooms, Matt was staring on at them.

"I'd love to come to your place tonight," Damon said. "Since I've been invited in now, I can just pop in."

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at him. The raven-haired hottie wasn't making any sense. "Well, Jenna's home and I don't really want to chance it. She can be a bit over-protective."

A mischievous glint appeared in Damon's eyes. "I'll handle her, but for now, how about you introduce me to your friend?"

"We've already met," Bonnie spoke up. "At the dinner party a couple of days ago. Remember?"

"Oh, right, I forgot." He smiled charmingly at her. "But I believe proper introductions are in order. Damon Salvatore." He offered her a hand.

Bonnie rolled her eyes at his tactics, but shook his hand nonetheless. "Bonnie Bennett."

Then, like with Stefan, she got a vision. Blood, death, fangs, _cold_. It felt like she was dying.

"Bonnie, are you okay?" Jessica cooed, placing a hand on the witch's back.

She straightened up and nodded, but her attention was fixed on Damon. "I'm... fine. I think I'm gonna get some air."

Jessica shot her an odd look. Weren't they already outside? But Bonnie shrugged it off and went over to the dressing rooms. On the way there, she contemplated whether or not her grams' could be telling the truth. Maybe she was a witch.

"Hey, Bonnie." That was Matt's voice. She turned around and gave him a smile. "What's up with Jess and that guy?"

"They're going out," she said softly. "But something isn't right about him. It's weird."

"You think he's abusing her?" Matt pressed.

She shook her head. "I don't know, but I don't think we should jump to conclusions. I'm sorry, by the way."

Matt shrugged. "It's none of my business. We're not together anymore."

Bonnie smiled sympathetically at him. She knew he felt differently, but Jessica usually put herself before anyone else. She had her good points, like she could be kind and a good listener, but she had a lot of flaws.

She went over to Caroline, who was going over the cheerleading pyramid like nobody's business. "Do you think Anna Winters should be on the bottom row or the second?"

* * *

"You gonna be able to play?" Matt asked Stefan in the dressing room.

"Oh, yeah, I'm good," Stefan assured the quarterback.

Matt nodded. "Uh, what you did back there... you had Jeremy's back."

"Ah, he's a messed-up kid. Somebody's gotta look out for him," Stefan said.

"I know." Matt held out his hand. "Good luck tonight. We're lucky to have you."

Stefan went outside and heard mocking applause coming from the corner. He snapped his head to the side and saw Damon, walking out of the shadows, a smirk plastered on his face. "Isn't that nice? Stefan joins a team, makes a friend. It's all so, 'rah, rah, go team, yeah!'"

"Not tonight," Stefan said. "I'm done with you."

"Nice trick with Elena. Let me guess... vervain in the necklace? I admit, I was a bit surprised. It's been a while since anyone could resist my compulsion. Where'd you get it?"

Stefan shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"No, not really," Damon said. "To be honest, I was just trying to get on your nerves. I have my own doppelganger to have fun with. Maybe I'll eat her."

"No," he replied, shaking his head. "You're not gonna hurt her, Damon."

Damon laughed at him. "No? Then what do you call compelling her, feeding from her and using her as a Katherine-look-alike blood bag?"

"That's _you_," Stefan said. "You do bad things like that. But deep down inside, there is a part of you that feels for her. I was worried that you had no humanity left inside of you, that you may have actually become the monster that you pretend to be."

He glared at his brother. "Who's pretending?"

"Then kill me," Stefan urged.

Damon smirked. "Well, I'm... I'm tempted."

He shook his head. "No, you're not. You've had lifetimes to do it, and yet, here I am. I'm still alive. And there you are. You're still haunting me, after one hundred and forty five years. Katherine is dead. And you hate me because you loved her, and you torture me because you still do. And that, my brother, is your humanity."

"Salvatore!" called the voice of Coach Tanner. "What the hell? We've got a game to play!"

"If that's my humanity... then what's this?"

Damon vamped behind Tanner and bit into his neck, completely draining him of blood. "No!" Stefan exclaimed.

Tanner's limp body fell to the floor. Damon smirked, blood dripping from his mouth. "Anyone, anytime, any place."

* * *

Tyler went into the locker room. "Tanner's M.I.A. I think he had a little bit too much beer."

"Don't talk to me right now, alright? I'm pissed at you," Matt snapped.

"What's your problem?" Tyler spat.

Matt scoffed. "What's my... You're my problem, alright? You're a bully. A freakin' twelve year old bully, man. And I'm sick of it. I mean, what was that about tonight? What's beating up the new guy going to prove? Or screwing with my sister or pummeling my girlfriend's kid brother."

"Girlfriend?" Tyler repeated, scoffing. "Look, I don't know how to tell you this, but she slept with me and now she's going out with that Salvatore dude. Are you for real? You want to hit me? I'm on your team."

Matt shook his head disapprovingly. "This was over the line. Even for you."

When he went outside, he saw Tanner's body sprawled out on the ground. He rushed down next to him. "Somebody help!"

* * *

"I had a really bad day," Damon whined, pouting as he entered Jessica's room.

Jessica placed _New Moon _on her bedside locker. "Oh? What happened?"

"Stefan was an idiot," Damon explained. "He said I had some humanity left in me. Bullshit, right? So, then I had to kill that Tanner dude to prove that I didn't."

She sat up like a shot, gaping at Damon. "You killed Tanner?"

He rolled his eyes. "Tanner was _drained of blood_, I'm a vampire, the only other vampire in town drinks from bunnies. Two plus two here, sweetie. You'd think a week of dating a vampire would sharpen you up." He sat down on the bed next to her and pressed his lips to hers.

Jessica pulled away. "Did you love her? Katherine, I mean?"

For the first time since she had met him, Jessica saw the sadness etched on his features. "More than anything." He paused, as if he was remembering something, but shook his head and went back to his usual cocky-guy facade. "Anyway, that's in the past. I have you to entertain me now."

Because that was all that she was to him. Entertainment.

That's what he tried to convince himself that night. He made sure to leave extra bite marks on her tanned skin, he blamed it on Stefan. There was no way he cared about anyone but himself and Katherine.

He stroked her cheek and let trail down to her neck, where a large bite mark was. They were on her back, on her shoulders... her skin was marred by his teeth.

It was a statement to his brother. He had no humanity.

But it was also to show that she was his.

* * *

**_Author's Note: _**_Don't forget to tell me what you think! When do you think Jessica should find out about the supernatural world? What role would you like her play in Season One, or any of the seasons actually?_

_Pairings? Review!_


	4. Family Ties

_**Author's Note: **__Slight self-harm (cutting) at the end of this chapter. I know it's a sensitive subject and easily triggered for some people, so I just thought I'd warn you guys. But it's not in explicit detail and there's a warning before it. Enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

**Family Ties**

Jessica held up the dresses in front of her, wondering which one to wear. One of them was yellow, the other one was blue. "No yellow," Damon said, scrunching his nose in disgust. "Jaundice. Go for the blue."

She pouted. "But the blue makes me look fat. I like the yellow."

He put on a forced smile. "Well, I don't. And since I'm going to be your date..."

"You can't be my date," Jessica argued. "I don't want to be the next council cautionary tale about teenagers in relationships with older men."

Damon turned her to face him. "Hm... my compulsion from last night is clearly not working properly. Let's try again." He started to compel her. "I went through a lot of trouble to make sure this party wasn't cancelled. It's very important I be there. Please take me."

Jessica smiled. "You should come to the founder's party with me. You can be my date!"

Damon smirked. "Not if you're wearing that dress," he said, gesturing to the yellow. He laid back onto her bed and picked up _New Moon_. "What's so special about this Bella girl? Edward's so whipped."

"It's a sequel," Jessica told him. "The second book in the _Twilight Saga_. You gotta read the first book first. It won't make sense if you don't."

He sighed. "Ah, I miss Anne Rice. She was so on it."

"How come you don't sparkle?" she asked, examining the bite on her back. "Vampires are supposed to sparkle."

Damon rolled his icy blue eyes and scoffed. "Because I live in the real world, where vampires burn in the sun."

"Yeah, but I've seen you in the sun," Jessica said. "You don't burn at all."

He showed her an ugly ring on his finger. "I have a ring. It protects me. Long story."

"It's ugly," she commented.

"Better this than ashes," Damon replied.

Jessica wasn't listening anymore. She was staring at the bites on her body. There was a bite on her back, her shoulder, above her breast, her neck, her wrist, her inner thigh and a little nip at her ankle.

She didn't understand why it had to be her. Sure, she looked like that Katherine chick, but why couldn't it be Elena?

The doppelganger noticed that he stopped calling her Katherine. It was comforting. Maybe he was beginning to like her for her? Or she was being completely stupid and Damon was thinking of Katherine while he did the deed. Probably the later.

"Will these bites turn me into a vampire?" Jessica asked him.

He looked thoughtful as he put down the book on his lap. "It's more complicated than that. You'd have to feed on my blood, then die, then feed on a human's, it's a whole ordeal. This book, by the way, has it all wrong." He got up and kissed Jessica on the neck seductively, making the human moan.

"You can be very sweet when you want to be," Jessica commented.

Damon smiled into her neck. "Yes, I can be sweet."

She took a shaky breath and asked the big question that had been weighing on her mind for days. "Are you going to kill me?"

He looked thoughtful. "Probably not, but don't test me. I can change my mind just like that." He snapped his thumb and index finger together. Jessica flinched at the sharp sound. "Besides, there's something I need you to do for me."

"Anything," she breathed.

"How good are you at getting this cute little button nose-" He tapped her nose with his finger. "-where it doesn't belong?"

Jessica smiled. "Oh, I'm excellent."

Damon smirked, satisfied. "Mm."

* * *

"Jessica!"

"You should go," she said to the vampire. "Jenna's calling for me..."

"I compelled her to be okay with this," Damon replied. "She could walk in on us and she wouldn't even flinch."

Jessica frowned. "I'd rather if you didn't mess with people's minds."

She regretted it as soon as it slipped out of her mouth. Damon glared at her. "And what exactly are you gonna do about it?"

Jessica backed away from him. "I'm sorry, I-"

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. For a reason unbeknownst to him, he felt guilty. _Him_, feeling guilty over a human? The thought was preposterous!

Damon placed a hand on each of her shoulders. "It's okay. Just no judging. Make yourself pretty."

Jessica smiled up at him, all previous fear evaporated into thin air. "I will."

He kissed her forehead softly before vanishing. She'd never get used to vampire speed. One minute he was there and then the next, he was gone. Jessica shook her head. He was too confusing for her brain to understand. She still kept teddies, for God's sake! And she had a basket of barbies underneath her bed because she was too sentimental to throw them out. The brunette wasn't able to get her head around the existance of vampires, and the fact that she was being used as a human blood bag.

Tears welled up in her brown eyes. She had to go downstairs to Jenna, she didn't want her to think that anything was wrong. She didn't want anyone questioning her relationship with Damon because, although he was abusive, he made her happy. She didn't want to be alone. Not to mention what he would do to her if he found out she squealed.

The doppelganger let out a whimper, blinking back heavy tears. Shaking her head again, she put on a fake smile and went downstairs into the kitchen. "Hey, Jenna!" she said with fake happiness.

Jessica never faked being happy. When her parents died, she took it out on everyone and expected special treatment. But if anyone found out about her and Damon... she didn't even want to think about it.

"Jess," Jenna started, looking worriedly at her charge. "What's up?"

"Up?" she questioned cheerily in a high voice. "Nothing's 'up'! Everything... everything's great."

"Come on. You've never pretended to be happy before, what's happened?" Jenna pressed. A look of answer crossed her face as she continued. "Is it Damon? Because I know all about dating older guys..."

"Jenna, just stop," Jessica snapped. "I'm happy with Damon. So, just leave me alone and tell me what you want."

She gave her one last worried glance, before telling her the reason she called her. "Are you going to the Founder's party?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm bring Damon." She ignored Jenna's look of disapproval.

"What about the stuff Mrs. Lockwood wants?" Jenna asked.

Jessica shrugged. "Elena's organising all of Mom and Dad's shinanigins. I don't see why I need to break a sweat trying to be the perfect Founder's daughter when that place is so clearly Elena's."

She whipped around and walked out of the kitchen, but her steps came to a halt when Jenna called, "You know you can talk to me, right?"

A tear streamed down Jessica's cheek. She let it fall this time. Ignoring Jenna, she continued to walk out of their house.

She couldn't talk to Jenna. Not about this.

* * *

"You're taking Damon to the founder's party? What about me?" Bonnie asked as the two girls walked into the Grill.

"Go with Elena," Jessica suggested.

"She's asking Stefan," she informed the doppelganger.

"Okay, go with Caroline," Jessica suggested. "This isn't my problem."

Bonnie rolled her hazel eyes. "Gee, thanks. What about Jenna? Is she okay with you bringing Damon?"

"She has enough on her plate with Logan Fell," Jessica said, snorting. "Or as she likes to call him Logan '_scum_' Fell."

"No way!" Bonnie exclaimed. "They used to date?"

She nodded. "Jenna has lots of experience with the guys. It'd be hypocrital of her to forbid me to bring Damon to the Founder's party. Besides, why should she care?"

"He's older sexy danger guy," Bonnie pointed out.

She scoffed. "'Older sexy danger guy'? Is that an official witch twitter tweet? You following Sabrina on there?"

"No more witch jokes, okay?" Bonnie urged. "That whole Mr. Tanner prediction thing has me freaked."

"Okay... And Damon's not dangerous. He's sexy and he's a guy, _thank God_, but he's not dangerous. He just has a lot of issues with his brother. Like major, deep-rooted drama," she explained.

"Like..." she pressed.

Jessica feigned innocence and confusion. "iI'm not really supposed to say anything."

"Jessica Miranda Gilbert," Bonnie started, "when have you _ever _kept a secret in your life?"

_Oh, Bonnie. You have no idea._

"Okay. But you can't tell Elena," she said.

Bonnie shook her head. "No."

"Bonnie!"

"Fine." She looked guilty. "Now, spill."

* * *

Jessica joined Bonnie and Elena in her sister's room. They were getting ready for the Founder's party. She was in her blue dress, which fell to mid-thigh, covering the bite inside her leg. She used a shawl to cover the bites on her back and her shoulder and she wore bracelets to cover the bites on her wrists. Her long, brown hair covered the wound on her neck.

Elena's phone rang and she answered it. "Hello? Hi, Mrs Lockwood. What do you mean? It is? Are you sure? 'Cause I saw it. Let me check. Mhm. I will find it and bring it. Okay. Bye."

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked her.

Elena didn't reply, but stomped out of the room and went into Jeremy's. Bonnie turned to her, expecting some sort of explanation. Jessica just shrugged.

"Uh, I kind of have a confession to make," Bonnie began.

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Did you start an earthquake with your witch mojo?"

"_Jessica. _This is serious," Bonnie chastised.

All form of playfulness was wiped off the young girl's face. "What did you do?"

"I might have squealed to Elena about the whole Stefan and Damon situation," Bonnie said, wincing as if she expected Jessica to hit her.

Instead, she sighed. "I knew you would, Bonnie. You never keep anything from _Elena_."

Even though it was what Damon wanted, it still hurt. Bonnie would always choose Elena over her. "I'm sorry," she said.

Jessica scoffed. "Uh-huh. Whatever. Let's just get ready and forget that this ever happened."

* * *

"It's cool not growing old," Damon said to his brother. "I like being the eternal stud."

Stefan rolled his emerald green eyes. "Yes, being a one hundred and fifty year old teenager has been the _height_ of my happiness."

"You cracked a funny, Stefan," he said, grinning. "I should have a drink to celebrate. 1864. You and Katherine were the perfect couple. It was hell watching you dance with her."

"My happiness was short-lived, as you well know," Stefan assured him.

"I remember. I left the party early, I was waiting for her. The night you dropped her off, I was waiting just inside. You were such a gentleman, gave her a kiss on the cheek. And what she really wanted was... Oh, well. Here's to history repeating itself, huh?"

"You should leave her alone," he said. "Jessica. Just because she looks like Katherine doesn't mean you get to abuse her and treat her like a human blood bag."

Damon scowled. "It's unfortunate for her, really. But she's making a donation to a bigger cause."

"What cause?" Stefan asked tiredly. "She's a teenage girl who has no clue what's going on. You're messing with her mind like it's play-doh."

"Ah, you're sympathy for pathetic, useless humans is heartwarming." He smelled the drink. The scent was strong with vervain. The Salvatore vampire dumped the drink on the floor, glaring at a formerly hopeful Stefan. "I admire your effort, Stefan. Pouring yourself a drink then spiking the bottle with vervain. I'm not some drunk sorority chick. You can't roofie me. But I can't help but feel a little used. I thought we were having a moment. I have to go to the party angry. Who knows what I'll do?"

* * *

Damon picked up his date from her house. She was wearing the blue dress, like he told her too. She clipped back her side fringe, but the rest of her hair fell to her waist in an abundance of curls. She was stunning. How couldn't she be, with a face like Katherine's? But Jessica radiated innocence, a childish beauty. Surprisingly, he coveted it. It had been over one hundred and fifty years since he felt an _ounce _of innocence.

She smiled at him shyly, brushing her hair behind her ear. He offered the doppelganger a hand and led her down the steps and to his car, admiring every inch of her.

"Elena and Jenna are already there," she informed him. He shut his eyes tightly for a moment. Her voice was high-pitched and annoying, it irritated him. "Jeremy stole my dad's old pocket watch, you should have _seen _Elena. She was fuming! You should really open your eyes, we might crash."

Damon opened his eyes and rolled them, groaning. "Jenna wasn't too happy about me bringing you. I thought you compelled her to be cool with us."

"I did," he replied. "Obviously her over-protectiveness trumps my compulsion."

Jessica nodded. "Right. So, this Katherine girl, did she look _exactly _like me and Elena? Isn't there a _slight _difference between us?"

Damon groaned again. "Yes, there is a difference. She knew when to shut up and when she spoke, I actually listened and didn't want to _choke_ her."

She gulped and turned her head to look out the window. Damon exhaled in relief. _Finally_, some peace and quiet. Once he got Katherine out of the tomb, he wouldn't have to worry about Jessica anymore. He didn't know how long he'd keep her. Maybe he'd just get annoyed with her and drain the girl.

"Here's the deal," Damon started. "I want you to ask Stefan to dance. And you won't take 'no' for an answer."

She frowned. "But why can't I dance with you?"

"Because, I want to talk to your sister," he said. The vampire shot her a sweet, pleading smile. "Please, for me?"

"Why do you want to talk to Elena?" Jessica questioned.

He rolled his eyes at her constant pestering. "She makes interesting conversation."

She suppressed tears. _Why am I not used to this by now? _Elena was number one, she was number two. The same tale was repeated over and over again. Even though they had the same face, Elena would always be more beautiful than her in everyone's eyes. She'd always be perfect, popular, friendly Elena Gilbert.

"So, you got it?" Damon continued.

Jessica nodded, looking away from him. They pulled up at the Lockwood Mansion. The place was huge, the biggest estate in Mystic Falls. The Lockwood's were filthy rich, which made them arrogant, Tyler being an example of what being a spoiled Lockwood could do to a person.

"Ah, the Lockwood estate," her vampire boyfriend noted, reminiscing like an old man. "They gathered up all these lands from the tomb vampires."

"The what?" Jessica pressed, confused.

He sighed. "Never mind. Come on."

They got out of the car and walked up to the front door, greeted by Mrs. Lockwood. The woman was incredibly fake, prim and proper. She judged anyone that wasn't a Founding Family member.

She smiled at them. "Jessica! You look smashing."

The younger girl smiled back at her. "Thank you, Mrs. Lockwood. This my boyfriend, Damon Salvatore."

The woman looked very judgmental, but she too was smitten by Damon's good looks. "Oh, well, come on in."

Damon stepped over the former barrier. "Lovely to meet you," he said. "I've been looking forward to this party for quite a while."

"Well, enjoy."

They stepped away from the woman. "Let's get a drink," Damon suggested.

He poured her out a glass of tequila, before getting himself one. "I have to admit," he said. "I'd prefer something a little... stronger."

She felt her heart race. The doppelganger didn't like being fed from. It hurt like hell when Damon was in a mood. Sometimes, he'd apologise afterwards, but Jessica knew he didn't mean it.

"But, unfortunately," he went on. "This place is filled with council members."

"Council?"

"A vampire hunting society," Damon said. "Founding Families are into that kind of stuff."

Were her parents vampire hunters? What would they think of her, dating a vampire? They'd be disgusted.

To be honest, she was too.

Damon was staring behind Jessica longingly. "There's the it-couple," he said, self-pity ringing through his monotonous tone.

She spun around. Stefan was kissing Elena's cheek. He was jealous of Stefan? Jessica recalled the Salvatore brothers shared affection for Katherine. Elena would be the centre of the whacko love triangle this time round. Though, she didn't think her twin would be insane enough to go for Stefan over Damon.

"Let's join them," Damon stated, grabbing Jessica's hand and pulling her over to where Elena and Stefan were.

Elena was reading from the registry. "'The founding families in Mystic Falls welcomes you to the inaugural founder's council celebration.' Wow, look, it's the original guest registry. Look at all these familiar names: Sheriff William Forbes, Mayor Benjamin Lockwood. Is that Damon Salvatore? And Stefan Salvatore?"

"The original Salvatore brothers," Damon said. The two lovebirds turned to face him. "Our ancestors. Tragic story, actually."

Stefan looked very uncomfortable. "We don't need to bore them with stories of the past."

Elena glanced between the two brothers. "It's not boring, Stefan. I'd love to hear more about your family."

"Well, I wouldn't," Jessica said. "Damon's bored me with enough historical facts for the day and he won't dance with me." Damon hummed in agreement. "Can I just borrow your date?"

Her twin didn't want to be left alone with Damon. "Oh, uh..."

Stefan shook his head. "I don't really dance."

Damon plastered on a polite smile. "Oh, sure he does. You should see him. Waltz, the jitterbug, the moonwalk. He does it all."

"You wouldn't mind, would you, Elena?" Jessica asked. "You know how much I love dancing."

"It's up to Stefan," Elena replied.

She grinned. "Well, I'm not gonna take no for an answer." _Of course not, Damon compelled me not to. _"Come on."

Elena stared after her sister and her boyfriend as Jessica led him outside. "I want to apologize to you for being such a world-class jerk the other night when I tried to kiss you," Damon said. "There's no excuse. My therapist says I'm... Acting out, trying to punish Stefan."

"For what?" she inquired softly.

"It's all in the past," Damon insisted. "I don't even want to bring it up. Let's just say that the men in the Salvatore family have been cursed with sibling rivalry. And it all started with the original Salvatore brothers."

Outside, Stefan was getting Jessica a drink. "Damon told you to ask me to dance. Didn't he?"

Jessica just smiled. It looked like she was in a daze. "Damon doesn't own me. And why would he?"

"Would you like one?" Stefan offered her a glass of champagne, unbeknownst to her, it was spiked with vervain.

She accepted it. "Thank you."

Damon was giving Elena a history lesson inside. "The Salvatore name was practically royalty in this town. Until the war. There was a battle here-"

"The Battle of Willow Creek," Elena chimed in.

Damon nodded. "Right."

"I know, we talked about it in class," she said. "Confederate soldiers fired on a church with civilians inside."

"What the history books left out was the people that were killed," Damon informed the girl. "They weren't there by accident. They were believed to be union sympathisers. So, some of the founders on the confederacy side back then wanted them rounded up and burned alive. Stefan and Damon had someone they loved very much in that church. And when they went to rescue them, they were shot. Murdered in cold blood."

"Who was in the church that they wanted to save?" Elena asked, almost whispering.

Damon shrugged. "A woman, I guess. Doesn't it always come down to the love of a woman?"

Despite Stefan's warning, Damon seemed like a half-decent person. Sure, he tried to kiss her when he was with her sister, but if he had deep-rooted issues with Stefan, maybe that excused his actions?

"Look, I'm sorry that you and Stefan have this thing between you," Elena said. "But I can't get in the middle of it, Damon. I just... I hope you two can work it out."

Damon was entranced by this girl. He was falling for her more and more each time he talked to her. "I hope so, too."

They went outside to join up with Jessica and Stefan, who were dancing. "What'd we miss?" Damon asked them.

"We were just chatting," Stefan answered. "Drink, Damon?"

Damon was suspicious. There was a large possibility that Stefan spiked it with vervain. "No, thanks. I'll pass."

"Stefan, do you have another dance in you?" Elena said, smiling.

Jessica let a small smile grace her lips at her sister's happiness. She deserved it, after everything. As much as she was jealous of Elena, how she detested being put second on a daily basis, seeing her happy just made her happy.

Stefan smiled back at his girlfriend. "Absolutely."

He happily led Elena onto the dance floor. Observing them, Jessica commented, "They look so cute together. They're both so happy."

Damon scowled, grimacing. "Don't talk, please."

* * *

After watching Elena and Stefan dancing for almost twenty minutes (the sight just made the seventeen year old smile), Jessica went looking for Damon. He snuck away after her comment. It seriously bothered him. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he had a heart.

Jessica found him in one of the rooms. "Where the hell have you been?" she asked, somewhat betrayed.

"Ah," he replied. "Looking for you."

"Stefan barely danced with me for five minutes..."

He interrupted her rant. "Okay, just a minute. Stand right... there."

He moved her for whatever reason and began rummaging through the collection. "Um, I don't think we're supposed to be in here." She noticed a pretty crystal necklace in his hands. "What's that? It's ugly."

"Yes, it is," he said mockingly. "It's a very important crystal. I need it to get the girl I love back."

"How'd you know it was there?" she pressed further.

"Because I put it there."

"When?"

He smirked. "A long, _long_ time ago. Tonight, I'm taking it back, thanks to you."

"What's it for?" she asked.

"Never you mind," he snapped.

"Well, you can't just _steal _it!" she exclaimed. "What would Mrs. Lockwood think?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's not stealing if it's mine. Come on."

She danced with Damon for a couple of minutes. He was a very skilled dancer, even better than Stefan. Jessica saw Bonnie and Caroline by the wine. The teenager excused herself and went over to her friends.

"Hey!" she boomed, smiling at them.

"So, how's the date with hottie over there?" Caroline asked, winking at her.

"Great!" she said. She ignored Bonnie's scrutinising look. Jessica knew Damon was listening. His eyes were on them and he looked like he was paying deep attention to their conversation. "He's an amazing dancer. The history lessons are a bust, though."

Caroline giggled. "Does he have a history major?"

Jessica shrugged. "I dunno. I suppose he has a lot of college degrees considering he's a v..." She stopped herself. Damon narrowed his eyes at her. _Shit. _"_Very_ intelligent person. He's interested in all sorts of things."

She laughed uneasily. Bonnie's scrutinising look only became more scrutinising. "Yeah..."

"I gotta go," Jessica said hurriedly. "Uh, Damon's waiting for me."

She strided away from them, but instead of going up to Damon, she went to the powder room. She expected Damon to burst through the door at any moment, ready to lash out at her and maybe even drain her.

She got what she expected.

"What the _hell_?!" he yelled, gripping her by the arm. She yelped. "I mean, how stupid can you get? Even if my compulsion did wear off, which I was expecting, I would have thought you were intelligent enough to not blabber my secret to everyone!"

His grip hurt. He wasn't exactly Mister Soft-Hands. "I'm sorry!"

"So am I," he growled. "It would have been nice to not have you ignorant of everything. Guess I'm gonna have to wipe you of that privilege." Damon began to compel her. "I'm not a vampire. As far as you know, I just like to get kinky. You'll forget everything I've told you about the supernatural, about vampires, witches and doppelgangers. I'm just a human."

"You're just a human," she repeated monotonously.

"Good."

She snapped out of the daze. There were blank spots in the last few weeks of her life, things she didn't remember. Damon bit her quite a lot, she remembered that. But somehow, she still cared for him. The amount of warnings about abusive relationships, there were even pamphlets in the school bathroom about getting yourself out of one. Jessica didn't realise how difficult it was until she was in one.

Damon smirked, satisfied and left her in the powder room. She winced as she heard the door slam closed. When she was sure he couldn't hear, her silent whimpers becameloud sobs that echoed through the room. She sunk onto her behind, sliding down the wall. Her hand rested on her heart as her chest heaved.

She was so confused. There was something about a Katherine... he mentioned her often. Apparently, she looked a lot like Jessica. She was just a teenage girl; scared and alone, with no clue what the past few weeks of her life had been like.

She got onto her feet and wiped her bloodshot eyes. Mascara streamed down her face. She had taken to wearing make-up more often, Damon liked it on her, when she applied it right.

The door opened again, although this time, much to her relief, it was Elena. "Hey," she said.

"Hey," Jessica replied. "How-how are things with Stefan?"

Elena huffed. "Great. Just great." She observed her younger twin for a moment, taking in her dishevled appearance. "Have you been crying?"

She shook her head frantically. "No. Of course not. I'm fine. F-I-N-E."

"You hate the word fine," Elena reminded her. She saw something on her neck.

"Well, it describes perfectly how I'm feeling right now." She felt Elena tug at her scarf. "Elena, what are you doing?"

"What is that?" she asked.

Elena saw a gaudy bite mark on her neck. It looked horrible. "Don't!" Jessica cried, twisting uncomfortably and slapping her sister's hand away.

"Oh god, Jessica!" she exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Nothing, okay?"

"That is not nothing!" Elena insisted, shaking her head. "Did somebody hurt you?"

"It's nothing," she assured her, readjusting her scarf. "Just a scratch. You know how I am..."

Elena snatched her white shawl from her sister's back, revealing yet another bite mark. "Did Damon hurt you? Jessica, you can-"

"He didn't lay a _finger_ on me!" Jessica yelled. "Well, he didn't mean... Just leave me the hell alone. Alright?"

Elena shot her one last worried glance before rushing outside. She saw Damon and pushed him. It didn't have as much impact as she hoped. "There is something seriously wrong with you. You stay away from Jessica or I'll go to the sheriff. You got it? _Stay_ away from her."

She caught a glimpse of Damon's shocked expression before walking over to Stefan. "I'm sorry. I take it all back. You're completely right about Damon."

"What did he do?" Stefan asked.

"There are bruises all over Jessica's body," she told him. "Bite marks, and he has her all confused and messed up in the head." She took in his almost nonchalant expression. "You don't look surprised."

"Um... I'm handling it."

She scoffed. "_Handling_ it? Stefan, she's my _sister_! You should be having him arrested."

"Elena, please. I... I don't expect you to understand," Stefan said.

"I don't understand anything, Stefan. So why don't you just clear it up for me?"

"Look, there are things that you don't know, okay?" he said. "Things that I want to tell you, but I can't. And I may never be able to. And I just need you to trust me."

"Trust is earned. I can't just magically hand it over."

Stefan saw Damon dragging Jessica by the wrist to the yard. "I'm so sorry. I have to go."

Damon turned Jessica around. "I'm sorry, please don't!" she begged, crying. "Don't hurt me! I didn't... I didn't mean for her to find out! She took off the scarf and I didn't have a clue what to tell her. I swear. I didn't say anything. I just told her you didn't mean to hurt me."

Surprising the whimpering girl, he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "You make me crazy, you know that? It's okay. I forgive you."

"I swear I didn't say..."

"Shh, shh, shh," he soothed. "It's okay. Unfortunately... I am so over you now. I'm gonna get Katherine back pretty soon so I don't need a cheap, tacky replica."

She gasped as he plunged his teeth into her neck, only he tasted something incredibly strong and horrible instead of the usual warm, tasty blood.

Jessica fell to the ground, unconscious. Damon sunk to his knees. "What the hell?"

"You know, I couldn't spike your drink... So I spiked hers."

_Stefan. _

* * *

Jessica fluttered her eyes open. There was a crystal on the lawn beside her. _Damon's crystal. _Was he going to give it to her? Without much hesitation, she picked it up. It was an ugly thing, but what was the point in leaving it there?

She slowly got onto her feet and pocketed the necklace. Jessica looked up groggily. Elena was running towards her. "Jessica? There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm-I'm fine."

"Jess, what happened?"

_"Duh!" Damon replied. "You're not very bright, are you? You're lucky you have such a pretty face!" He tapped her nose with his finger gently._

_"I look like her," Jessica realised. "That's why you're interested in me."_

_"Of course!" Damon boomed. "Why else would I be interested in you?"_

A sob escaped her lips. "I'm _fine_."

"No. You're shaking. Jessica, what-"

_"It's okay. Unfortunately... I am so over you now. I'm gonna get Katherine back pretty soon so I don't need a cheap, tacky replica."_

"I'm fine!" she stated, tears welling up in her eyes. She wiped them away. "I'm so sick of c-crying!"

Elena gave her a sympathetic look. "Jess, come here." She wrapped her in a tight hug as Jessica sobbed into her shoulder.

* * *

_Dear diary,_

_Last time I wrote in this, I told you about a stranger. Turns out, that stranger would ruin my life. Not really... maybe that's an exaggeration. His name was Damon Salvatore, the brother of Stefan Salvatore. He bit me, abused me, he made me confused. Now, I just feel hopeless. Everything I've been feeling for the last couple of months is just piling up and I'm about to break._

_I don't know what I'm going to do._

"Jessica?"

The kind, sympathetic voice of Jenna almost made her turn around, but she didn't.

"Elena told me what he did to you," she said. Jessica could hear her voice shaking. "I'm... I'm so, so sorry. I should have protected you from him. I should have _known _something was up. Miranda, your mom, she would have known. She would've sniffed it out from a mile away. I don't know what to say... or what to do. I'm sorry, Jessica."

She stood up and tried to straighten her physique. She was trying to show Jenna that she was fine. _Fine. _She wasn't _fine_. She had never been fine.

Jessica felt like the world was crashing down on her in one, simple moment. She crashed down onto the bed, uncontrollable sobs coming from her lips as tears fell from her brown doe eyes. She grabbed her stomach and attempted to control her breathing.

Jenna sat down beside her and placed her charge's head on her lap, stroking her brown hair.

They stayed like that. Both of them left to their thoughts. Jenna didn't know how to comfort her. She never felt this crappy before. Like... like she was broken.

She was officially broken.

_***Self-harm warning***_

Later that night, she was left in her room, alone. She assured Jenna that she was okay. That she would deal with it. Her guardian reluctantly agreed.

Jessica pulled out her pencil case and unzipped it. She took out a pencil pairer. Her steps were longer than they needed to be as she went into the bathroom and got out her red tweezers.

She pulled out the screw and the blade fell into the sink. Shaking, she picked it up and washed it.

She rolled up her sleeve. The teenager pressed the blade to her skin.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**__ A little darker than usual, but if someone lost their parents, had insecurity issues and was abused in a little less than six months, they're pretty much guaranteed to break down and resort to methods like self-harm._

_I'm sorry if anyone had difficulty reading this. If there's anyone out there reading this who self-harms, I advise you get help or talk to someone. It really works, trust me._

_Follow, favourite, review!_


	5. You're Undead to Me

_**Author's Note: **__More self-harm in this chapter (probably the last chapter it's featured in) and alcohol abuse._

* * *

**You're Undead to Me**

Damon woke up. He recognised where he was immediately. The Salvatore boarding house cellar. He looked at his hand, more precisely at the finger where his ring should have been. His wretched younger brother was outside of his cell. "Where is my ring?"

"You won't be needing it anymore," Stefan replied.

He groaned. "How long have I been here?"

"Three days."

"What are you doing?"

"During the dark ages when a vampire's actions threatened to expose or bring harm upon the entire race, they would face judgment," Stefan explained. "They sought to reeducate them rather than to punish them."

Damon's throat was dry. He needed a certain red liquid. "You know what will happen if I don't..." He coughed. "Feed on blood."

"You'll grow weaker and weaker," he told his brother. "Eventually you won't be able to move or speak. In a week your skin will desiccate, and you'll mummify. A living corpse. Unable to hurt anyone. Ever."

"So what? You're just going to leave me in the basement forever?" Damon questioned.

"I've injected you with enough vervain to keep you weak. Once your circulation stops, I'll move you to the family crypt, and then in fifty years, we can reevaluate.

Though weak, Damon was still determined. "I'm stronger than you think."

"You always have been. But you're not stronger than the vervain. And we both know it." He looked at his brother, regret flashing in his light green eyes. "I'm sorry. It didn't have to be this way."

* * *

Elena went into the bathroom which she shared with Jeremy. Inside, Vicki - _Vicki Donovan _- was brushing her teeth. Elena knew exactly what was going on. "I-I'm sorry, I'm almost done."

"It's... it's okay," she assured her, staring at her as if Vicki was an alien. "Take your time."

They went their separate ways, Elena out one door and Vicki out the other. The druggee joined Jeremy in his room. "I think you might be in trouble."

"What did you do?" Jeremy asked.

She smiled sheepishly. "Elena saw me."

Jeremy smirked. "I'm a drug-using delinquent. A girl in bed doesn't really rank. Sorry."

Elena found her aunt in the kitchen. "Jenna! Are you aware of what's going on upstairs?"

She nodded. "Uh-huh."

"And you have no objection?" Elena asked in disbelief.

Truthfully, Jenna was just glad he wasn't smoking pot. "He could be craftier about it, at least make an effort to sneak her in and out. Oh, and just so you know, I won't be home for dinner."

Elena smiled. "So, you're actually going to do it. You're gonna go out with Logan."

Jenna smirked at her. "I'm going to show up and torture him, yes. And have you heard from Stefan?"

She shook her head. "Not since he left that very vague message three days ago. 'Hi, um, Elena, I, um, have something I have to do. I'll, uh, explain in a few days.'"

"Haven't you called him?"

"Nope," she said. "Not going to either."

"And you're ok with everything?" Jenna questioned.

"No, I'm not okay with any of it," Elena said as she prepared her breakfast. "But I'm not gonna cry about it, either. You know, I was going to write in my diary this morning and then I thought, what am I going to write? Honestly, I'm not gonna be one of those pathetic girls whose world stops spinning because of some guy."

Jenna nodded in agreement. "Okay then."

"I'll be fine," Elena stated. "Besides, it's not me we should be worried about. Jessica's spiralling. She's not letting anyone see it, but she is."

"She's acting odd," Jenna agreed. "It makes me miss the old, blunt Jessica who wore her heart on her sleeve. But what did we expect? It's only been a week. She's not gonna be all happy and bubbly. She lost her parents and then got abused by a sick, sociopath. The best thing we can do if be there for her."

Elena nodded. "Right."

* * *

Jessica squirmed and twisted in her sleep.

_"Ugly. Fat. Useless. Why would I ever want you?" Damon sneered._

_He morphed into Elena. "Even Matt preferred me. We all know it. Why would he choose you over me? I'm the perfect one. The intelligent twin who actually cares about others. You're nothing but a spoiled brat."_

_She turned into Bonnie, who glared at Jessica. "How do you expect to be taken seriously when you act like a joke?"_

_Caroline. "Slut."_

_Jeremy. "You slept with Tyler Lockwood the night our parent's died. Maybe it's your fault their dead."_

_The vision of her brother disorted into Stefan. "From the moment I met you, you annoyed the crap out of me. Of course I chose Elena. Why would I choose you?"_

_Jenna. "You're all alone. Nobody wants you."_

_Damon, once again, stood in front of her. "Cheap, tacky replica."_

She jumped awake, gasping for breath. She was safe, in her room. Nobody could hurt her.

Jessica threw her legs over the side and walked into the bathroom. There were cuts on her lower arm, all of them straight across. She stared at them. There had been something mesmerising about the way the blood pooled up and then dripped onto the ground. She felt an urge to do it again, and again, and again.

She looked at the mirror. The person that stared back at her wasn't her. She was a shell. Her skin was pale and her eyes were dull and lifeless. They used to bounce with excitement, with innocence. There was none of that left inside of her.

Her logic was flawed, she realised. She had been abused, and now she was abusing herself.

The girl in the mirror was much bigger. Had she always been that big? The number on the scales was going down slightly (only a few pounds) but the mirror didn't show it. She tried to smile at herself, but it looked crooked and forced. Because it was.

Her facade was crumbling. The happy attitude she used to hide her insecurities behind was falling apart.

Every time she looked in the mirror, she hated what stared back at her. For some reason, Elena was so much prettier, while Jessica looked like a deer. She had the doe eyes to prove it.

Bonnie texted her to tell her that she was coming over later, no doubt asked by Elena. Jessica didn't tell or show anyone how she felt, not that they didn't know. She was drowning in her sadness and she hated it. She hated not being in control.

It wasn't as easy as getting up and smiling. How some people could do that was beyond her.

She spent hours thinking about the missing pieces in her memory. She voiced her frustration to Elena, the only time she spoke to her about the whole ordeal.

_"It's like there's parts that I can't remember," Jessica ranted. "I mean, I remember most of it. But there are just these... gaps. Blanks. It's like someone wiped my memory."_

_Elena looked thoughtful. "There's something weird going on. With Stefan and Damon."_

_Jessica sighed and plopped onto her bed. "You're telling me."_

She wasn't desperate to find out what was going on. Elena was curious, but Jessica had given up. Maybe the Salvatore's were just vicious, mind-controlling monsters. Werewolves? Ninjas? _Vampires_?

_Ha, that's likely._

The scars, caused by both Damon and herself, marred her once tanned, soft skin. There were bags underneath her eyes and her face looked worn and tired. She wasn't getting much sleep the past few days. Nightmares plagued her sleep. Every time she shut her eyes, Damon would appear, either smirking or taunting her.

* * *

"He's awake," Stefan told his Uncle Zack. "He's weak, but it's probably best to stay out of the basement. He's Damon. I'm not sure how dangerous he still might be."

Zach was gaping at his uncle by many generations. "You're going to school?"

"I came here to live a life," he said. "It's about time I get back to that. And Elena, if she's still speaking to me."

"Why haven't you called her?"

Stefan's shoulders squared slightly. "What am suppose to do, feed her another lie? I hate lying to her, Zach. I'm not good at it. She already thinks I'm hiding something."

"What choice do you have? You came here because you wanted to live as normal a life as you could. You knew this was going to be a part of it."

* * *

"You look tired," Bonnie noted, sitting on Jessica's bed.

The brunette scoffed. "Of course I am. I haven't gotten any sleep."

Sympathy was etched on the mocha skinned girl's features. Sympathy that Jessica had grown to despise. "You can talk to me about this. Seriously, Jessica. You need to get it out in the open."

Jessica shook her head. "No, I can't. I can't because if I talk about it, then it becomes real. I can't deal with that. I prefer being in denial.

Bonnie chewed on her lower lip. She wanted to punch Damon in the gut for hurting her. Sure, Jess could be annoying at times, but she was Bonnie's best friend and that meant something to her.

"You can't live in denial forever," Bonnie said. "The sooner you accept it and deal with your problems, the sooner you can recover."

Jessica whipped around to face her best friend. Bonnie noticed how her once pretty face had become worn. She looked thinner, frail. Jessica was always thin, but she was much smaller than before. Her brown eyes had lost the glint that they once held. What Bonnie was most worried about was her figure. She didn't look healthy at all. Her collar bones had become prominent and her arms had become bones.

"Oh, and what do you know about this?" Jessica snapped angrily. "Have you been abused, taunted and _bitten _by someone you thought was really into you?" Her voice became softer as tears glistened in her brown eyes. "Have you ever had to deal with a guy calling you someone else's name whenever he had sex with you? No." Bonnie's lips tightened into a straight line. "All of your knowledge probably comes from a wikipedia article."

Bonnie was used to her lashing out. It was a frequent occurance. Jessica didn't know how to deal with feelings, so she either covered it up with fake happiness, bouts of depression or extreme anger. She was one of the few people who could see the real her.

She stood up and placed a hand on either one of Jessica's shoulders. She noticed how she winced at the contact. "Look, you're hurting a lot right now. And I completely understand. I care about you, Jess. We've been best friends since Kindergarten and seeing you like this... it's like I'm losing a part of myself."

Jessica searched her eyes for any spark of doubt. For a moment, she looked like she was about to cry, but then she shrugged Bonnie off and glared at her. "Sorry to disappoint you then, Bonnie. But I'm getting along just fine on my own."

Bonnie sighed and sat down. She was impossible when she got like this. Jessica went into the bathroom and got dressed, while Bonnie waited in her bedroom.

When she came back out, the Gilbert girl sat down in front of Bonnie. "So, you ready to talk about it?"

Jessica shook her head. "No."

Bonnie sighed. "Alright."

* * *

Later that day, they were at the school getting ready for the car wash tomorrow. "The sexy suds car wash is tomorrow. The football team and the band have committed. Well, not all the band. Just the ones who could pull off the bikini. I want in your face sexy. I mean, it's a fund raiser, for God's sake. Jessica, honey, if you're not up to it that's okay."

Jessica shrugged. "I'm fine."

Bonnie, Caroline and Elena stared at her retreating back. "Unbelievable. It's like nothing happened."

"She's in denial," Bonnie said. "You should have seen her this morning."

Stefan walked up to them. "Hey."

"Hey." She gripped Caroline's wrist. "You know, we gotta go... be somewhere right now."

She dragged a giggling Caroline away from Elena and Stefan. "I'm so sorry I haven't called."

Elena shrugged. "No worries. I'll live."

"I was dealing with Damon."

"And did you... 'deal with Damon?'" Elena asked.

"Yes. Yeah," Stefan replied.

Elena scoffed. "I hope it was something worth while. You did spend four days doing whatever you were doing. It must have been big. Not that he doesn't deserve it after what he did to Jessica. She's pretty... down," Elena said, for lack of a better word.

"I'd say she would be," Stefan mumbled. "Has she said anything... odd?"

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Stefan. "Just that her memories are funny. She's had blanks, like gaps in her memory. But seriously, _four days_?"

"You have every right to be upset with me," Stefan said. "But can I explain it all to you? Please."

"Sure," Elena agreed, eager to learn. "When?"

"I gotta be home after school, but the Grill, around four o'clock?" Stefan said.

"Okay."

Stefan smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

"Stefan, where's Damon?" They turned to see Jessica standing beside them, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "He has some serious explaining to do."

"He's gone, Jessica," he told her.

"_Gone_?" she repeated. "When's he coming back?"

"He's not coming back. I'm sorry."

He walked past them, leaving a frowning Jessica behind. Elena placed a hand on her shoulder. "This is a good thing, Jessica."

She nodded, but she looked like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else. "I know that."

* * *

Drinking too much alcohol was bad for any teenager's health, but that slipped Jessica's mind when she ordered another glass of tequila.

"Uh, you sure you want to do that?" the bartender asked. "You don't look much older than seventeen."

Some workers in the Grill refused to serve underaged teens alcohol, others didn't give a shit. Jessica preferred the workers who didn't give a shit right about now.

"I've been having a pretty shitty week," she said. "Make that a pretty shitty _year_. If I don't drown my sorrows in alcohol, I'm going to do something I seriously regret. So, _please_, pour me another glass."

He let out a loud sigh and went to refill her glass. She smirked, satisfied with the response. Being moody had it's perks. But it wasn't her. She felt like a fish out of water.

Damon didn't even have the decency to apologise to her after everything he put her through. How many girls had he treated like that? Was she the first? Did it come from some deep-rooted 'Mama issues'?

"Here," the bartender said, handing her a glass filled with alcohol. "Knock yourself out."

She grabbed it and downed it quickly. "Jess."

She turned around in her seat. Matt was standing behind her, an eyebrow cocked up and a curious yet worried look etched on his handsome face. "Matt. Wanna join me?"

He noticed how her voice slurred when she spoke. "Are you alright?"

She waved her hand in an 'I'm perfectly okay' motion. "Pfft, I'm _amazing_. Y'know, got abused," She gestured to a bruise on her neck, "bitten," she brushed her hair to the side, revealing a bite mark, "and taunted. But I'm persevering!" She threw a fist in the air, but her arm slumped down drunkenly. Her face crumbled. "Oh, who am I kidding? I'm a mess."

Matt's jaw had fell to the floor. "He _bit _you? Damon Salvatore _bit _you?"

"Shh!" Jessica exclaimed, hitting him on the back of the head. "I don't want the whole of Mystic Falls to know that I was in an abusive relationship! It's not like they don't have enough to talk about."

His voice hushed. "Oh, right, sorry."

He sat on the stool beside her. "I knew he was dodgy," Matt said. "He even dressed dodgy."

Jessica laughed. "_Dressed _dodgy? Matt, come on. We're not five!"

Matt joined in on the laughter. "He had that _look_. He's the kinda guy I'd cross the street as soon as I caught a glimpse of him. But I'm biased, I suppose."

The laughter lines on Jessica's face disappeared and were replaced with curiousity. "_Biased_? Wait, what?"

If she wasn't drunk, maybe she'd understand. "Uh, nothing. So, why'd you date him?"

She sighed thoughtfully. "I was desperate, insecure and alone. Just kind of... happened. Big, big mistake."

"I'll say," Matt agreed. "This is nice. It's like when we were just friends."

"Yeah," Jessica said. "I miss that time. Everything was so simple."

She held her face in her palm, propping herself up by her arm as she leaned on the table. "I'm sorry."

Jessica tilted her head in confusion as she straightened up. "For what?"

"For leaving you on your own to deal with your parents' death," Matt explained. "Dick move on my part."

She shook her head. "No, I get it. I actually get it now. I did a shitty thing, like _major _shitty thing, you were hurt. Forgiving me for what I did is like me forgiving Damon for what he did; close to impossible."

"Still. Your parents died," he said. "That warrants forgiveness."

"Since we're apologising," Jessica started. "I'm sorry for sleeping with Tyler. Like super-duper sorry. And for being a possessive bitch when we were together. Oh, and that time I crashed your car into the side of your house. I never said sorry for that, did I?"

Matt laughed. "Nope. What about that time I was on a date with Dana and you put a worm in her spaghetti?"

Jessica smiled sheepishly. "Oh, and that too. Mr. Jenkins fired me after that."

"Can you blame him?"

She looked down at the ground. "No."

Matt chuckled heartily. "And the time you yelled at me because I was talking to Tiki?"

"She was so flirting w-" She stopped her rant when she saw Matt's warning look. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry about that too."

"And the time when..."

"No more apologies!"

* * *

Later that day, Matt was at the Grill by himself. Elena approached him. "Hey, Matt. Have you seen Stefan?"

"Nope. If you want to kill some time, um, you can rack," he said, gesturing to the pool table. Elena looked reluctant. "Come on. We haven't played in forever. I'll let you break."

* * *

Zach went down to the cellar where his great-great-many-great uncle was desiccating. "I'm full of vervain. I've been putting it in my coffee for sixteen years. My blood will only make you worse." He didn't reply. "Damon?"

"So it was your vervain," Damon realised. "Good for you. Good for you. Family only runs so deep."

"We're not family, Damon," he replied. "Only in the most dysfunctional sense. In fact, I avoided having a living, breathing, loving family because of you."

"I don't guess I could talk you into bringing me a rabbit or something?" Damon asked. "I'd settle for Stefan's diet at this point."

"You know I can't do that," he answered.

Damon coughed. "You succeeded, Zach. I'm shutting down. You're like your grandfather. He didn't like it when I came to visit, either."

"But you don't visit, Damon," Zach stated. "You appear, unannounced, reminding me that this isn't my house; that you're just permitting me to live here. Hell, that you're permitting me to live."

He smirked. "Someone had to mow the lawn."

"I came to say good-bye, Damon."

As quick as lightening, Damon vamped up to the door and gripped Zach's throat. "Unlock it. Unlock the door, Zach."

Stefan showed up at the right moment and wrestled Zach out of Damon's grasp. "Keep it up, Damon. The more energy you spend, the faster you'll go."

* * *

"How is she?" Matt questioned as him and Elena played pool.

Elena sighed. "I think she's getting better, but I'm not too sure. She's acting like nothing happened. Has she said anything to you?"

Matt nodded. "She was in here earlier, but she was drunk so maybe that's why she was so open. You might want to monitor her alcohol intake."

"Yeah." She shot another ball into the pocket. "Oh, by the way. I found Vicki in my brother's bathroom this morning. I think they slept together."

Matt groaned. "Great."

"I know!" Elena exclaimed. "And there's Vicki, all nonchalant in the bathroom like it's no big deal that they're hooking up," Elena said.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Your brother and my sister, that's weird," Matt replied.

Elena nodded. "Yeah."

Her phone rang. "How late is he?" Matt asked.

"Hitting the hour mark," Elena said. She bit her lip, wondering whether or not to tell the blonde boy about her problems. "What do you think of Stefan? Is he a good guy?"

"Why? What's he done?" Matt inquired.

She ran her fingers through her hair. "Not any one thing. He's just so secretive all the time. I think there's something that he doesn't want me to know, which makes me want to know all the more."

Matt shrugged. "Like what? Like that he's a serial killer and he keeps a clown suit in his trunk?"

Elena, despite her situation, let out a small laugh. "No, of course not. But what do we know about him, really?"

"He's great at football," Matt said thoughtfully. "A little bit of a loner. Overall, he's a nice guy."

"So you think I'm just being paranoid?" she asked.

"I think you should to him," he replied.

As if on cue, Stefan showed up. Unbeknownst to them, he heard their entire conversation. "Talk to who? I'm so sorry that I'm late."

"What happened?"

"I got held up," Stefan told her.

"Is everything okay?" Elena asked worriedly.

"There was this thing with my uncle," he informed his girlfriend vaguely.

She raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip. "And you couldn't call and tell me that you were going to be an hour late?"

Matt looked between them awkwardly. "Okay... You two have fun."

He rushed off. "I'm really sorry," Stefan said.

"What was unavoidable?" Stefan stared at the ground. Elena nodded. _More secrets. _"Okay."

Stefan followed after her. "Elena, please..."

"No, Stefan, don't you get it?" Elena said, frustration boiling inside of her. "Every question gets a vague non-answer. What is so awful that you're afraid to tell me?"

An old man walked up to them. "I know you. My God."

"I'm sorry?"

The old man stared at Stefan. "I know you. How can it be?"

"I think you have the wrong person, sir."

The man was just as confused as Elena was. "You haven't aged a day."

"I'm sorry. Excuse me. Hey, can we... can I take you home and we can talk about it? Is that okay?"

He pushed Elena out of the Grill. The doppelganger stopped and held him back. "Wait, what was that?"

"I-I don't know," Stefan stuttered. "Nothing."

Elena scoffed. "Right, nothing. Okay, um... I gotta go, Stefan. Excuse me."

* * *

Jessica popped open a bottle of tequila that she had stolen from Aunt Jenna's stash. She wouldn't miss it, since she was expected to be expertly parental and proper.

She didn't bother with a glass. She brought the bottle up to her lips and threw her head backwards, letting the liquour enter her system. The ecstasy it brought was much better than the taste. She was blissfully unaware about her previous state. She felt happy.

The teenager turned on the stereo. She pumped up the volume to a crazy level. If she was sober, she would have thrown the box out of her window, but drunk Jessica had totally different ideas.

She stripped down to her underwear and danced in her room, taking the occassional swig of alcohol.

Her dance party came to a halt when she saw a crow on her window. "Shoo! Shoo!" she said, trying to get it to fly away from the ledge.

* * *

"I bet you're feeling pretty good about yourself, aren't you?" Damon remarked.

Stefan frowned. "Not particularly."

"You won," Damon said. "You got the bad guy. Now nothing can come between you and Elena. Except the truth. The lies will catch up to you, Stefan. As long as you keep lying to yourself about what you are."

Stefan knew that what he was saying was the truth. "The beauty of you in there and me out here... is that I can walk away."

* * *

Caroline was giving Elena and Jessica a stern talking to. "No friend discounts. No freebies. No pay ya laters. We are not running a charity here. No, we are not."

"No we are not," Elena repeated.

Stefan approached them. "Hi."

"Hey!" Elena said happily.

Caroline had a very disapproving look on her face as she eyed the three of them. "The event is called sexy suds, you know."

She spun on her heel and walked away. "Did we just get scolded?" Stefan asked.

"And judged, yeah," Elena added.

Stefan brushed off Jessica, causing her to jump away from him and yelp. She didn't like people touching her, especially guys since she was with Damon.

She rubbed her arm. Stefan and Elena were giving her odd looks, though Elena's soon turned to one with sympathy. Jessica stepped away from the two, glancing at both of them. "Sorry," she mumbled before running off.

Stefan stared after her. "Is she... like that since Damon?"

Elena nodded, letting out a sigh. "Pretty much."

Jessica passed Caroline, who grabbed her arm. The brunette pulled it out of her grasp immediately. "Uh... okay..." Caroline, like Elena and Stefan, looked like she had seen a cerberus. "Um, I was just gonna ask you to get some towels."

She covered her expression with a happier one, plastering on a smile. "Oh, yeah, sure."

"Jessica," Caroline started, "You know you can talk to me? I think I've gotten better at the whole supportive friend thing."

Jessica laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I know. I'm fine. I'll... I'll go get the towels."

She went inside the school, going towards the towel press near the swimming pool. As she walked through the halls, she heard a voice she didn't want to hear. "Jessica. Jessica, help me. Jessica. Help me. Help me."

* * *

_"Jessica, help me. Jessica. Help me."_

It felt like her legs had a mind of their own as she entered the Salvatore boarding house. She went down to the cellar. She didn't even know the Salvatore's _had _a cellar.

Damon was inside. His skin was greyer and he looked hungry. "Oh, my god! What is this? How did I know that you were here?" Jessica rambled, scared and confused.

"Because I wanted you to," Damon replied. "Very, very badly. Let me out of here. Please."

"You _bit_ me," Jessica accused.

"You liked it. Remember?"

"Why are there so many blanks?" Damon walked up to the cellar door. "And why do I keep on remembering the same things, but in different ways?"

"You remember what I want you to remember," Damon stated simply. "And now that the vervain has passed out of your system." He began to compel her. "You won't remember what you're about to do."

"What am I about to do?" she repeated, in a daze.

He smirked. "You're gonna open the door." Her hand went to the latch. She slowly pulled it over, effectively letting the monster out. "You're gonna open the door."

Zach rushed downstairs. "No! No! Get out of here. Run! Run!"

Jessica stared at them both, confused. How did she get here? Taking Zach Salvatore's word for it, she sprinted out of the house, not looking back.

What was she doing in the Salvatore boarding house's front lawn? All that she knew was that she had to get the hell out of there.

* * *

Later that evening, Jessica cuddled into her pillow. She wasn't crying or whimpering, she was just... thinking. She didn't want to feel sad anymore. What was the point in living if you spent it whining and depressed? She wanted her old life back.

"I didn't see you at the car wash," Jenna said from the doorway, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Left early," she replied shortly.

Jenna let out a sigh. "I know about the tequila."

"Are you gonna give me some long rant about how underage drinking is bad?" Jessica asked tiredly.

Her guardian sat down at the end of her bed and placed Jessica's legs on her lap. "No. Because I did it too. I didn't exactly have an amazing adolescence, but being abused by some idiot wasn't on my list. I think it warrants some alcohol abuse." She gave her a small smile. "Just don't do it again."

"I won't," Jessica said, pouting. "I had the _worst _hangover this morning."

Jenna laughed. "Yeah, that happens." Her expression became more serious as she addressed a more serious issue. "I saw the blades. Have you been cutting?"

Her charge sat up. "No," she replied immediately.

"Jessica..." Jenna trailed warningly. "You can trust me. Show me your arms."

Jessica tugged at her sleeve, making it stretch to her palm. Jenna smiled at her reassuringly. She bit her lip and pulled up her jacket's sleeve.

Jenna didn't gasp, not that the cuts were that bad. She barely did it for a week. "I had a friend who self-harmed back in high school. It's not a safe way to get out your emotions, Jessica. Talk to me. Talk to _anyone_! Just don't do this."

She pulled back down her sleeve. "I know it's not safe... but it helps. I don't know how, but it does."

"You're hurting yourself," Jenna stated. "That's not helping at all. Please, Jessica."

She looked at her duvet covers, avoiding Jenna's pleading gaze. "Okay. I won't. I promise."

Jenna gave a relieved sigh. "You ready to talk?"

Jessica nodded. "I'm ready to talk."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__This chapter was really important for Jessica's character. Getting over an abusive relationship is difficult for anyone. I hope I portrayed it okay._

_Review! Tell me what you think! I love to hear your thoughts or suggestions. Even criticism is great!_


	6. Haunted

**Haunted**

Bonnie narrowed her eyes at a lavender scented candle, focusing on trying to light it. Grams said that her powers came from her will. If someone saw her they'd think she was crazy.

Someone pounded at the door. "Bonnie? You've been in there for the past twenty minutes! Are you constipated or something? Should I get some pills?" Jessica asked.

Bonnie's cheeks reddened. "Oh, no. I'm fine." She opened the door.

Jessica folded her arms in front of her chest, an eyebrow raised. "Were you smoking?"

She looked around her. "No, I-" _The candle. _It was lit. The witch smiled slightly.

Jessica followed her gaze over to the candle. "Why'd you light the candle? _How'd _you light the candle? You don't carry around matches," she said, her head tilted in confusion. "I hope," she added as an afterthought.

Bonnie was still in a daze, even though she had done it a thousand times with Grams, it still amazed her. "I did it," she replied.

"Well, _of course _you did it!" Jessica stated in a 'duh' tone. "I don't see anyone else here!"

"With magic," Bonnie continued. "I lit the candle with magic."

Jessica looked worriedly at her best friend and placed a hand on her shoulder, leading her out of the bathroom. "Okay, Sabrina. You lit the candle with your magic. Mhm, whatever you say..."

"And you wonder why I don't tell you things," Bonnie muttered.

They sat down on the bed. Jessica squinted her eyes as she stared at Bonnie, there was no hint of laughter on her face. "Oh my God, you're telling the truth."

"You can tell?" Bonnie inquired.

She hummed in responded. "With you, yeah. We've been best friends since kindergarten. So, you're really a witch." The other brunette nodded. She was taken by surprise when Jessica squealed in excited. "Oh. My. God! You're _actually_ a witch! Do something cool!"

"I can only do basic stuff..."

"Then do basic stuff! _Come on_! I wanna see some magic!" Jessica urged, grinning. "Make something fly. Here!" She placed her phone on the bed. "Make it levitate."

"It's not that simple, Jess," Bonnie told her. "I have to concentrate."

"Then concentrate!"

She groaned. "Fine. Okay. But you cannot tell anyone about this."

Jessica zipped her lips and threw away the key, like they did when they were kids. "My lips are sealed."

Bonnie sighed and placed her hands on either side of the phone. She shut her eyes and Jessica watched avidly, excitement racing through her. There was a tint of doubt, but wouldn't it be cool if her best friend was a witch? They could go to Los Vegas...

The phone levitated into the air. Jessica gasped as Bonnie opened an eye. The other eye opened once she saw that the phone was actually flying. Bonnie smiled.

After a few moments of _magical _joy, the phone plopped onto the bed. "That was so cool!" Jessica exclaimed. She pounced on Bonnie, engulfing her in a hug. When she pulled away, she began to ramble. "We can go to Vegas! Oh, you can teleport us places! I was thinking Portugal. When you get better, of course..."

Bonnie laughed. "You've just found out your best friend is a witch. Aren't you a little creeped?"

Jessica smiled. "Nope. Think of all the fun things we can do!"

Bonnie grinned and shook her head as Jessica continued to ramble, happy that she could share her newfound powers with someone other than her Grams.

* * *

"Did you have fun at Bonnie's?" Elena asked as her sister walked into the house, shutting the door behind her.

"Uh-huh," she replied. "It actually... helped. Bonnie's been great."

Elena smiled. "Told you." Her face faltered as they went into the kitchen. "Uh, you might wanna stay away from Vicki for a little while."

Jessica took out some bread and butter. "Oh?"

"Yeah, she's... not herself."

How does one tell their sister that her ex-boyfriend's sister is a murderous psychopath?

"Elena, she's a slutty drug addict who does everything that wears pants," Jessica pointed out. "How much worse can you get?"

"A lot worse," Elena muttered.

Jessica proceeded to butter her bread. "What was that?"

"Uh, nothing." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Just promise me you'll be careful?"

She shrugged. "Why?"

"Because she's out for blood," Elena said. _Literally. _"And she never really liked you."

Jessica scoffed. "Huh, that's nice." She bit into her slice of bread, but it coughed it up once a thought struck her. "_Wait_. Didn't Jeremy sleep with Vicki?"

Elena didn't have a clue where she was going with this. "Um, yeah?"

She threw her arms in the air. "_Great_! Now he needs an STD test!"

* * *

"I think you should really think about it," Jessica said.

Jeremy gave her an 'are you freakin' serious' look. "I'm not peeing in a cup when I could be out looking for Vicki!"

"Hey, you'll thank me in the long run," she insisted. "So, do you have any of the symptoms?"

"Hm, let's see," Jeremy mocked, looking at the STD pamphlet Jessica gave him. "It doesn't hurt when I pee. I'm not having any discharge..."

Jessica held up her hands and stepped away. "Ew! Ew, no! I didn't ask you to _elaborate_!"

Jeremy shrugged and tossed the pamphlet onto his bedside locker. "Besides, maybe you should be the one getting tested for STD. Damon seems like the type of guy that goes through a lot of girls."

"No, shush up!" Jessica placed a hand on each of her hips, glaring at her brother. "Don't you mention Damon in front of me."

Her baby brother grinned, lying down on his bed. "Ah, I see what this is. You're clinging onto any possible distraction so that you don't have to think about Damon." Jessica was gaping. "Yup, I know. Elena and Jenna talk about it _all the time_."

"And you think it's okay to tease me about it?"

He shook his head. "Not teasing, just stating a fact. It's not good to distract yourself from reality, Jess."

She pointed an accusing finger at Jeremy. "Don't use my words against me!"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Leave me alone and I won't have to. So, unless you want more harsh facts." He gestured to the door.

Jessica huffed and left his room, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

Caroline rushed into Jessica's room, holding three clothes hangers. "I've got you both of your costumes sorted out. It's all here."

She handed one to each of the girls. They were all witches. Bonnie scoffed at the costume. More at the irony than at Caroline's choice. "_Seriously_?"

"Come on!" Caroline exclaimed. "Can someone please be excited that it's Halloween? I just wanna have fun! Jessica's all for it, aren't you, Jess?"

She shrugged. "I could do with some Damon free time. But why is my costume the sluttiest?"

"Because you have the perfect, skinny long legs!" Caroline chirped. Jessica rolled her eyes. "You know you want to."

She grinned. "Okay, I kinda do. Fine. I'll wear the slutty witch dress."

Caroline clapped her hands and giggled happily. Bonnie was staring at the necklace on Jessica's table. "This is..."

"Ugly?" Caroline suggested. "No offense, Jessica, but it's kind of grotesque."

"None taken," she assured them. "I found it after I passed out. Damon was kissing my neck, or biting me. He had a fetish for biting, the creep. Anyway, I didn't see the point in leaving it there so I grabbed it. Maybe it has some antique value."

"You got it from Damon and you kept it?" Caroline questioned skeptically. "I thought you moved on?"

"I have!" Jessica insisted. Caroline gave her a look. "Fine, maybe I'm still a little, teensy tiny bit hung over on him, but rest assured, I have no desire to be the recipient of his creepy vampiric fetishes. I swear, that guy wants to be Edward Cullen."

"You should get rid of it. Or sell it on eBay," she replied.

"Yeah..." Jessica looked at Bonnie, who was in some kind of trance. "Uh, Bon?" The witch's head snapped over to her. "You can have that, if you want. It might go well with your costume. I'm just torturing myself by keeping it."

Bonnie nodded and pocketed it. "Thanks."

Caroline gave her a nod of approval. "Do you guys know what Elena's wearing?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Jess and I were at my house all weekend."

"Bonnie was playing counselor," Jessica jumped in.

"Maybe she's with Stefan."

The brunette scoffed bitterly. "Yeah, I bet they're riding into the sunset on his white horse."

"Don't be bitter," Bonnie scolded. "It provokes wrinkles."

Jessica groaned and whipped over towards Bonnie. "I told you that!"

* * *

The woods were empty save for the occasional jogging man or happy couple. Jessica tried her best not to sneer at them as they walked by. Why was everyone happy but her? What was even more depressing was her inability to feel whole without a man to complete her.

Jessica heard the rustling of bushes and looked over her shoulder. No one was there. _Just a rabbit you scaredy cat. _She took a deep breath and continued her walk.

Once again, her stroll was interrupted when she fell over a tree branch. "Ugh." She got back onto her feet, but as soon as she straightened up, a strong hand gripped her throat and pressed her against a tree trunk.

"Vicki," Jessica struggled to say. "What the hell? How're you so strong?"

"I thought Damon used you as a human blood bag?" she asked, confusion written on her features. "He probably used that really cool mind control thing."

Jessica tried to pry Vicki's hand off her throat, but it didn't work. "What?"

"Oh, right. I'm a vampire," Vicki said.

"Are you high on steroids or something?" Jessica asked. She was able to speak since Vicki loosened her hold on the girl's throat, but she still held her against the trunk with only one hand. "Let me go!"

"Let's get one thing straight, you perky little bitch," Vicki growled. "You had my brother whipped for fifteen years. _Fifteen years _and then you slept with Tyler." There was a hint of jealousy in her tone. "When I look at you that is all I see, just so you know. You're a _slut _who doesn't give a damn about anyone but yourself; a spoiled little brat who got too many barbies when they were a kid. I bet you've never even had a job!" Jessica opened her mouth to object, she did have a job once, but she shut it when she realised that angering a vampire wasn't the best thing to do. "In the whole wide world, you're the only person I wouldn't care if I killed. So, that makes you my favourite meal."

Her face vamped out. Jessica found the sight strangely familiar. Vicki pierced Jessica's skin with her teeth and drank her blood, making the human's body go limp.

Stefan pulled Vicki off her. "No!" he yelled. "You don't kill people."

"Oh please," Vicki scoffed. "Who'd really miss her?"

Jessica rubbed her wound with her hand. She wanted to run, but she was too weak to even stand. "Vicki, no matter what your feelings are towards her, she's still a human being. If you kill her, you're stripping someone of their right to a happy, long life. Can you live with that?"

"With her, yes," Vicki said.

Jessica was too scared to feel hurt. Damon vamped up to them. "Ah, see you've found the missing stray." He nodded to his former blood bag. "Jessica."

They were vampires. "Vicki bit her. You need to feed her your blood and compel her to forget this."

_Great, more compulsion. _How many times had she even been compelled? "Oh, right. You have a problem with human blood." He got down next to her and bit into his wrist. "Come here, sweetie. Drink up."

It felt weird, but she drank his blood. Her wound healed frighteningly fast. Damon's eyes bore into hers. "You'll forget all about this. You went for a nice walk and you fell. It's a really odd place to cut, but you managed it, since you're a klutz." He winked at her. "Now, you're gonna go home."

With a dazed expression on her face, Jessica stood up and walked away. "I wonder how many times she's been compelled," Stefan asked sadly.

Damon shrugged. "Eh, not my problem."

* * *

Jessica tried to recall the happenings of the past hour, but she just couldn't. Could witches wipe memories? Were there more of them? And her neck was bleeding, but she cut it off something. She couldn't remember how, just that somehow she did.

Elena rushed over to her. "Are you okay?" She spotted the bleeding wound on her neck. It healed, but there was still blood. She knew what happened. "Oh my God. Come on."

"I fell," Jessica said as Elena dragged her into the kitchen. Her twin poured cold water into a plastic bowl and got a couple of sheets of kitchen roll. "I can't remember... just that I fell. And I can't remember any part of my walk. I just went for a walk... nothing. It's like that thing with Damon and all of the blanks. What's happening to me?"

Elena so badly wanted to tell her, but she couldn't betray Stefan. She dabbed the paper onto her wound, cleaning up the blood. "I'm sure it's nothing, Jess."

"What if I'm going insane?" Jessica asked, fretting.

"No, you're not going insane," Elena assured her. "I promise you that you're not going insane. Just, trust me."

Jessica stared blankly into thin air. "All done," Elena said, bringing the cloth and the bowl over to the sink.

* * *

Caroline dragged Jessica to the carnival. She rated her mood at a three. Apparently, the blonde would only allow her to stay home if it was under a two. She called it the Jesso-meter.

Tyler approached them, handing them all drinks. "Cider for the ladies. It's a Lockwood special."

Bonnie refused it. "No way. Last year I was hung over until Thanksgiving."

"Lightweight," Caroline commented. "I am going to drink until someone is hot enough to make out with."

Tyler smiled. "Sounds like a plan."

She saw Matt by the punch bowl. He smiled at her. "Excuse me," Jessica said, going over to the blonde.

"Hey," Matt said.

"Hi."

"I saw Jeremy," Matt told her. "He wasn't very... pleasant."

"Tell me about it," Jessica said, groaning. "How long has he been like that? Or have I just started paying attention?"

Matt laughed. "He's been like that all summer, Jess."

She knew Jeremy had a drug problem. Jenna talked about it often enough, but she didn't realise he had an attitude problem to go along with it.

She slapped her forehead with her palm. "Uh, I'm so out of it. Anyway, where's Vicki?"

"I lost her," Matt said. "If you see her..."

Jessica nodded. "I'll drag her over here so you can give her a good talking to. Got it."

He smiled. "Thanks."

* * *

"You're home early," Jenna noted, sipping her coffee.

Jessica sighed. "I know, right? Everyone either left early or were nowhere to be found. So, I got fed up and just left."

"What happened to the party from dusk 'til dawn Jessica?" she asked, smirking.

"Guess she's MIA," the brunette replied, making her way up the stairs. "And she's tired. I'm gonna get to bed. Love you, Jen."

Jenna blew her a kiss. "Love you too, Jess."

Jessica laughed and went upstairs. She heard an Xbox coming from the room beside Elena's.

She knocked, but didn't receive an answer from her brother. She took that as a 'go away,' but like most sisters, went in anyway.

Jeremy was playing _Call of Duty_. "Hey," she said, leaning against the door.

He smiled. "What's up?"

Jessica flinched back. She was expecting him to yell at her. "Um, Jeremy? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he responded. "I'm a little bummed that Vicki left town, but..."

"Vicki left town!" Jessica exclaimed.

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "At least try to contain your excitement."

She straightened up and put on a stoic expression. "Right, sorry. It's just that Vicki didn't really make you happy. And I'm almost positive that she gave you STD." He shot her a look. "Okay, fine. But she was more of a grey cloud, to be honest. You're better off without her."

Jeremy paused his game. He turned his head to look at his sister. Jessica prepared herself to be yelled at. "You look happy."

"Eh... thanks?"

"No, seriously," Jeremy said. "You've been a little down the past week."

She crossed her arms. "Well, that's what happens when some creep decides to bite you so he can live his vampire dreams. And what about you? You're the one who had the attitude problem."

Jeremy shrugged. "I just feel... good. Like all of my suffering is gone."

"Good for you!" Jessica chirped, genuinely happy for her brother. "But..."

He sighed. "Fine, if it means that much to you, I'll do the damn STD test."

"You know that I'm only pressuring you..."

"...because you care about my personal well-being and future sex l-"

"Jeremy Gilbert, don't you dare finish that sentence!"

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__I skipped 'Lost Girls' since there wasn't much to write. Hope nobody minds. I think I'll be doing that a lot with this season, considering Jessica won't be apart of the supernatural drama for a little while. _

_I loved writing the Jeremy/Jessica brother/sister relationship. They're both developing, and their relationship is developing as well. What did you think of it?_

_She isn't done developing yet. Not at all. She's still a little shallow and immature, but she's making progress. I'm thinking of letting Matt/Caroline happen for this season, but a Matt/Jessica friendship? _

_Don't forget to review! It brightens up my day!_


	7. 162 Candles

**162 Candles**

"What are you so upset about?" Jessica asked as she plopped down on the couch next to her sister. Jeremy was writing behind them. Elena shot her a look. "Geesh!" She raised up her hands. "Only asking! But you are so drowning in self-pity."

"At least I didn't spend fifteen minutes in front of a mirror this morning," Elena shot back.

Jessica shook her head disapprovingly. "Low, just low."

Jenna sat down next to Elena. "You're wallowing."

"So are you guys," Elena pointed out.

**"**My wallow is legitimate," Jenna said, frowning. "I was dumped."

"Heh," Jessica scoffed. "I was abused by a sociopath who still hasn't apologised."

Elena's face contorted with guilt, which she swiftly covered. "Yeah, well, they're both jerks."

"You didn't get a brush-off e-mail saying: 'I'm leaving town. See ya,'" Jenna said.

"He _bit _me," Jessica reminded them.

That was all it took to get them both to agree. "You win," they chorused.

"Wanna keep it down over there?" Jeremy called.

Jenna looked behind the couch. "Why? What are you doing?"

"Homework."

"Since when do you do homework?" Elena questioned.

"I gotta finish this," Jeremy stated stiffly. "I'm way behind and I have a quiz tomorrow so..."

They all turned to look at each other, exchanging surprised glances. "What do you think? Alien?" Elena suggested.

Jenna looked thoughtful. "Some sort of replicate."

"Maybe it's a drug," Jessica wondered.

Jeremy groaned. "He can hear you."

* * *

The Gilbert twin was considering taking up another sport. Soccer was an option. She used to love playing with Dad and Jeremy. Not that she was any good... Maybe hockey. She liked to hit things with sticks, and the hockey stick might prove to be a valuable weapon.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she met the bane of her existence - and her abuser - in the middle of the street. He grabbed her arm, preventing her from going an further. She glared at the raven-haired dick. "Look, dungeon boy, I'm sick and tired of you bossing me around and treating me like I'm a piece of shit. You _bit _me and abused me and I'll be damned if you think..." Damon compelled her... for the hundredth time. "Oh, hi! Where have you been? You're looking great!"

Damon grinned. "Much better. You wanna throw a party here at the Grill tonight?"

"I'm not good at throwing parties," Jessica informed.

"Ah, I'm sure you'll do great," Damon assured her.

"But why don't you do it?"

"Because then Stefan and his BFF won't come," he said. "I need a lot of people. Big crowd. Invite everyone."

Jessica nodded. "And why am I having this party?"

"Because you're gonna help me solve this town's little vampire problem." Damon smirked, a mischievous glint in his eye. If everything went to plan, he'd have Katherine back in no time. "And I want my crystal back."

"But Bonnie has it."

"I know that. Get it from her."

* * *

"Guess what, guys?" Jessica boomed, entering Elena's bedroom. There were feathers scattered on the floor. "I'm throwing a party at the Grill!"

Elena frowned. "Why?"

Jessica shrugged. "Why not? I mean, we're all so down lately and... wait, what's up with the feathers?"

Bonnie smiled. "Party trick."

She knitted her eyebrows together before realisation finally hit her. "Oh! You know about the juju!"

Elena laughed. "The _juju_?"

Jessica rolled her chocolate brown eyes. "Her magical powers that'll allow us to become millionaires in Vegas. What else can I call it?"

Elena and Bonnie withheld laughter as they turned to look at each other. "Juju," they both said at the one time.

They both burst out laughed. Jessica folded her arms. "Hey, it's not that funny." They continued to laugh. Since when was she the sane one? She let out a soft laugh. "Okay, it's kind of funny."

Bonnie wiped tears from her eyes. "Ah... I think we're cracking up."

"We're going bonkers," Elena chimed in.

"Well, my sanity remains in check," Jessica declared proudly, sticking her nose in the air.

Then the two of them laughed again.

* * *

"I thought that planning parties was my thing," Caroline said as Jessica wrote the invite text. The two of them were at the Grill. "Bonnie has her psychic thing, Elena has the whole girl next door thing going on and you're the stereotypical spoiled teenager."

Jessica looked up. "Excuse me?"

Caroline realised what she said and regretted it immediately. "Jess, I didn't..."

Instead of lashing out at her, she just sighed and went back to texting. "I'm not gonna bother. What's the point? You'll do it again and again and again..."

"You don't have get so high and mighty just because you've made some minor improvements," Caroline huffed.

"Minor improvements are better than no improvements," Jessica said. She put her phone into her jean pocket.

"What's up with that?" Caroline questioned.

Jessica shrugged her shoulders. "What's up with what?"

"_That_," she repeated, gesturing to her phone. "You were totally checking yourself out."

"I was just checking my make-up," she insisted.

"And you're wearing make-up!" Caroline pointed out. "You never used to wear make-up, not until Damon... Oh my God! That's it!" Jessica tilted her head in confusion. "You want to look pretty for Damon!"

"Well, he's not that bad..."

Caroline gaped. "Jessica, he bit you. That's abuse. He's abusive!"

Jessica scoffed and stood up hastily, grabbed her purse. "I don't know why I even hang out with you. You're a shallow, immature, self-absorbed brat." Tears rushed to Caroline's eyes, making the brunette regret her words. "Caroline, I didn't mean-"

"No," Caroline interrupted her. "You did. Well, you know what, honey? You are too. The only difference between me and you is that you're stuck in an abusive relationship with a psychopath and I'm not."

"Damon's not a..."

Caroline got onto her feet. "You practically became depressed because of him, and now you want to go back to him? That's stupid and needy. Ugh! You disgust me."

She stormed off, her blonde curls bouncing as she did. "That sounded rough."

Jessica spun around, smiling happily. "Damon! The party's all planned."

He smiled. Well, it was a Damon-smile, not exactly a smile. "Good job." He patted her head like a dog, but she didn't mind because of the compulsion. "And the necklace?"

Jessica became crestfallen. She completely forgot about the crystal. "Um, I'll get it. Just give me a couple of hours."

"Be quick. You know how impatient I get." He kissed the crown of her head gently. "See ya at the party."

She stared at his retreating back as he walked off.

* * *

At the Grill later that day, Jessica was on the phone with Bonnie. "You have to come, Bon. Please, for me."

Bonnie sighed on the other end. _"Okay, fine. I hate your whiny voice."_

"I don't have a whiny voice!"

_"Yeah, you do. You put it on when you want something."_

"Oh, I do?"

_"Mhm."_

"Huh. Learn something new everyday. See you at the Grill then?"

_"Yup. Yippee!" _Jessica could _hear _her roll her eyes.

"You better be happy."

She hung up, smiling slightly. She didn't know how, but she had gotten closer with Bonnie lately. Maybe it was because Elena was too busy with Stefan (what she was doing with him, Jessica did not know) to socialise with her friends.

There were people behind her, dancing and drinking. Damon was at the other side of the bar. The compelled human walked over to him. "Amazing party right?"

He smirked. _God, he does that a lot, _Jessica thought. "Glad you thought of it."

"Are you having fun?" Jessica asked.

"Do you have my crystal?"

"No."

"Then I'm not having a good time."

He sauntered away from the slightly melancholic girl. Caroline was talking to Matt. When did they get close? They never talked before. Did they hook up? She almost forgot in all her jealousy that she wasn't with Matt. And Matt could do whatever he liked. The blonde quarterback didn't want her anyway. She wanted Damon, she reminded herself.

Ten minutes later, Bonnie arrived. Jessica went up to her immediately. "Oh, hey! There you are!"

She smiled. "Here I am."

She noticed the crystal hanging from Bonnie's neck. It was an ugly thing, why would Damon even want it? "Um, about the necklace. Can I have it back? I know I gave it to you, but I'd really like it if you returned it."

"Why?" Bonnie asked, perplexed. "You said you hated it."

"I did!" Jessica told her. "But then I saw it on you and I realised how amazing it looked. I guess you could say I'm jealous."

"I can't give it back to you," she replied.

"Bonnie, I really need it back," she said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry, Jess, I can't."

Jessica scowled. "Bonnie it's _mine_. Give it."

The witch raised an eyebrow. "I thought you said it was Damon's."

"It is."

Bonnie nodded understandingly. "So he's the one who really wants it back."

"No, he doesn't..." What would Damon do? He'd probably snatch it, pull it from her neck. Without thinking (without any control at all) she went to pull it from her best friend's neck, but much to her surprise, it shocked her. "What the..."

Bonnie's jaw dropped. "You were really gonna pull it from my neck. What the hell has he done to you?"

She walked away. Jessica threw her hands in the air in frustration. "Gahh!"

She spun around and went the other way, only to bump into Damon. "Where is it?" he inquired.

"Bonnie won't give it to me," Jessica said. "I even tried ripping it off her neck, like you would've done."

"And..." Damon pressed.

"It shocked me," she told the vampire.

Damon groaned. "Damn it! Why does it do that? I need that crystal."

"Why are you being like this?" Jessica asked. "You treat me like crap and I'd do anything for you. It's just some _stupid _necklace."

Damon shook his head, glaring at the doppelganger. Anger raced through him. "No, you are the only stupid thing here. And shallow. And _useless_."

The more words he dumped on her, the she started to crumble. She didn't cry, she just felt empty and alone.

She wanted something to drink. Bonnie stopped her in the middle of the Grill. Everyone was happy... they didn't have to deal with _Damon_. "Jessica."

"Just, don't talk to me."

"Don't do that, let me explain."

"What is there to explain, Bonnie?" Jessica asked. "You got what you wanted. As usual, everyone else gets something but me. And as a bonus, I got called a shallow, useless waste of space."

"Who said that to you?"

Jessica scoffed. "Who do you think?"

"You know that's not true," Bonnie said. "Don't let him treat you like that."

"But he's right, isn't he?" Jessica replied, tears glistening in her eyes. "I'm useless and I'm shallow. Nobody wants me."

"Jessica, I-"

"No, Bonnie," she snapped. "You probably think it too. You know what? Just leave me alone."

Was Damon right? Did anyone even love her? She felt like she was back to square one. And, like she used to do, she took her anger out on an innocent person.

What was up with people and bumping into her today, especially when she didn't want to talk to them? "Hey, Jessica," Caroline started, fidgeting with the hem of her dress. "I, uh, about earlier. I didn't mean what I said."

"Well, I meant what I said," Jessica spat. "You are shallow and immature. And you have the mind-set of an eight year old. It's pathetic really. Your own mother doesn't even want you. Maybe that's why she works so much."

She didn't stick around long enough to see the tears well up in Caroline's eyes. Seeing her face twist in pain was enough to know that she had went too far.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **Much s__horter chapter than usual. I've kind of decided that Matt/Jessica won't happen this season. I was thinking of leaving her single for the rest of Season One. I'll try to keep it interesting. I'm pretty sure that Matt/Jessica won't be endgame, though. I honestly don't know who'll be endgame._

_Any pairings you'd like to suggest for either this season or later seasons? Any ideas you'd like to throw in? I'd absolutely love to hear them! _

_Review!_


	8. History Repeating

**History Repeating**

Elena and Caroline were heading towards the school. "Have you even talked to Jessica?"

The blonde shook her head. "No, I'm mad at her. She needs to make the first move."

"Be the bigger person," she suggested.

Caroline scoffed. "Impossible in her presence."

"Why are you so pissed at her anyway?" Elena asked.

"Did she tell you anything?" Elena shook her head, frowning. A scoff escaped Caroline's lip. "Figures. Well, I might have said something I didn't mean. But then I made a totally valuable point about her trying to look pretty for Damon." She noticed the brunette's shocked expression. "I know right? Apparently, she's still hung up on him. She was defending the sicko! Then, she called me, and I quote, a 'shallow, immature, self-absorbed brat.' I told her off and then I left. So, at the party I decided to be the bigger person and apologised, but then she said that I had the mind-set of an eight year old and that my own mom doesn't even want me and that's why she works so much. Oh, and she called me shallow and immature. _Again_. Needless to say, I'm pretty pissed."

Elena sighed. "You're right to be, I guess. But Jessica's not stable when it comes to Damon. He gets into her head and plays mind games with her. We've gotta be a bit more understanding."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "I just don't get it. Why would someone want to be with an idiot like Damon?"

_Because he compels her to want him_. "Just, promise me that you'll be more understanding."

"Nope," she replied.

Elena sighed once again. "Alright, well, I tried. I'm officially out of it."

"Good. Your turn. Where's Stefan? Have you talked to him?"

"He's avoiding me," she informed the cheerleading captain.

"Why?"

She struggled to think of a response. "It's complicated." The bell rang throughout the school. Elena took it as an excuse to leave. "I'll see you later."

"Bye," Caroline called after her.

She passed by Matt on her way to class. "Hey," Matt said, disappointing Caroline. The quarterback had comforted her after Jessica's insults.

Caroline looked crestfallen. "Hey."

"Caroline's really upset," Elena said to Bonnie, sitting down at the desk beside her. They had history next. "Jessica snapped at her at the party. She said some really nasty things. It's like we're back to square one again."

"It's Damon's fault," Bonnie said tiredly. Her ancestor, Emily Bennett, decided to have a little visit in her head this morning during Math. "He's toxic and he's hurting her. He called her a shallow, useless waste of space during the party. Maybe that's why she lashed out at Caroline."

Elena nodded thoughtfully. "Hm. Yeah, probably."

Jessica was sitting beside Matt at the other side of the room. "They're close again," Bonnie commented.

"Mhm," Elena replied. "Matt visited a lot this week. But they're just friends, as far as I'm concerned. I don't think Jessica's ready for another relationship since Damon."

Bonnie sighed. "Can't blame her."

A new teacher entered the classroom. The class had been told that their new teacher was coming in today.

"Good Morning everyone. Alrighty." He wrote his name on the chalkboard. "Alaric Saltzman. It's a mouthful, I know. Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Saltzman is of German origins. My family emigrated here in 1755 to Texas. I, however, was born and raised in Boston. Now the name Alaric belongs to a very dead great-grandfather I will never be able to thank enough. You'll probably want to pronounce 'Alaric' but it's 'Alaric,' okay? So, you can call me Ric. I'm your new history teacher."

* * *

"What about hockey?" Jessica suggested as they went outside. "I could be good at that."

Matt laughed. "I think you're more the cheerleading type, Jess. You hate running."

"Yes, that's true," she agreed. "But I _do _like hitting things with sticks. I mean, how hard can it be?"

Matt looked very amused. "So, you're gonna join hockey?"

Jessica shrugged. "Well, you only live once." She straightened up and grinned. "Tomorrow, I will no longer be Jessica Gilbert, the cheerleader, I will be Jessica Gilbert, the cheerleader _and _hockey player."

Matt chuckled. "You know you're probably gonna flake out within the next twenty-four hours."

She sighed, letting her shoulders fall. "Yeah. I know. So, what's your life been like? You're getting close with Caroline, I see."

"She was a mess after the party," Matt told her. "What you said, it really hurt her."

She ran her finger through her hair and frowned. "I know. And I feel horrible, but how can I face her after that?"

"I dunno," Matt-the-great-help said. "Anyway, so we went back to her house and..."

"You guys _slept _together?!" Jessica exclaimed.

The blonde quarterback blushed. "No. _No_. We just... stayed in her bed for the night. I snuck out in the morning. Now, everything's back to normal."

"This is Caroline Forbes we're talking about here," Jessica began, giving him a pointed look. "She's not gonna drop a fine male speciman who comforted her _and _stayed in her bed for the night."

"Well, she's gonna have to," Matt replied stiffly.

* * *

Jenna was making dinner in the kitchen. The door slammed shut. "Hey, is that burgers?" Jessica inquired, sitting down at the table.

"Yup," she replied. "Don't worry. It's not _too _complicated. I can make burgers." Jessica laughed and pulled out some books. "So, what's up with you and Matt?"

"We're friends," Jessica said quickly. "Just friends."

Jenna smirked. "Mmhm. I've heard that before."

"No, seriously," she continued. "We've talked about it. I don't want to get involved with someone so soon after Damon. Matt understands."

"He wanted to get back together?" Jenna asked, slightly in disbelief. Jessica hummed in response. "And you said no?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't want a boyfriend right now. Besides, Matt and I are great as friends. It's nice having him back as a friend."

Jenna stared at her, wide-eyed. She never knew Jessica as someone who wanted to stay single. In freshman year, her niece practically played musical chairs with all of the boys in her year. "Well, um... good for you."

Jessica nodded, starting her homework. She had an essay due for English and plenty of history and French homework. Jenna was gaping at the suddenly studious high schooler as she scribbled down words in her copy.

Jessica looked up at her aunt, an eyebrow raised. "Are you just gonna keep staring at me or what?"

The college student laughed and took out a bottle of red sauce from the cupboard. "Since when did you become so studious?"

"Since Jeremy decided to be the good child," Jessica said, continuing her essay. The brunette kept on glancing back to the book. Latin words were extremely complicated. "And Elena's already a nerd. I didn't want to be the idiot of the gang."

Jenna nodded. "Good. That's good."

* * *

"Bonnie's staying over," Elena said, biting into her burger. "And I was thinking of inviting Caroline."

Disapproval was etched on Jessica's features. "Ugh..."

"Come on!" she urged. It was just the two sisters in the kitchen. Elena had come home late that evening. "You can't avoid Caroline forever."

"I was such a bitch to her," Jessica said sadly, resting her chin in her hand. "She was only being a good friend and warning me off Damon and I insulted her. Why was I even associating with Damon in the first place? Why didn't I slap him?"

Elena knew the answer, of course: Damon compelled her. Next time she saw the wretched idiot... well, she couldn't do much. He was a vampire and she was a dainty human. "You were probably just confused," Elena assured her. She was _lying_ to her sister and her best friend and she felt horrible about it. "Besides, you can apologise to her tonight. Bonnie and I will make sure she doesn't strangle you."

It was a light-hearted attempt at a joke, not a very good one, but Jessica appreciated the effort. She smiled softly. "Thanks. I think I'll need it."

Elena nodded. " Onto a much lighter subject... what's going on with you and Matt?"

Jessica shook her head. "I've already had this conversation with Jenna. We're just friends. I don't want a relationship right now." Elena's jaw fell. "Close your mouth, you'll swallow flies. But why is it so hard to believe that I want to be single?"

"Because you're _you_," Elena began pointedly. "I'm sorry, but you're not exactly known for being a single lady for longer than a month. Granted, you were single during summer but that was different."

Jessica straightened up, puffing her chest out and smirking. "Well, that's about to change."

* * *

"Right, so, I couldn't find my manicure kit," Caroline said as she entered their house. She went into the kitchen, but stopped when she noticed Jessica was there. "Wait, what is _she _doing here?"

Jessica placed her hands on her hips. "Um, I kind of _live _here."

Caroline scoffed. "I'm out." She turned to leave, but Jessica voice made her turn around.

"Caroline, wait. I'm... sorry." The blonde haired overachiever turned around, her arms folded. She looked at Jessica expectantly. "What I said was totally uncalled for. It was a low blow and I'm so, _so _sorry."

Jessica smiled hopefully, silently praying that she'd forgive her. Caroline looked like she was fighting an internal battle. Suddenly, she strided up to Jessica and wrapped her arms around her shoulders, engulfing her in a bear hug. "Oh! It's okay."

The brunette pulled back, shooting Elena a 'what the hell?' glance. Her twin just shrugged. "How can you forgive me so quickly?" she asked the cheerleading captain.

She sighed. "Elena talked some sense into me. I was still mad, but... Damon messed with your head. She convinced me to be more understanding."

"Oh, Elena Gilbert," Jessica said, smiling. "Saviour of the universe. And since I'm in the apology zone..." She spun around to face Bonnie, who decided to be the Master Chef of the evening. "I'm sorry, Bonnie. You can keep the necklace."

Bonnie looked guilty. "Would you hate me if I tell you I threw it away?"

That ruined the forgiving atmosphere. Caroline and Elena tensed, as if expecting an earthquake to strike. "You _threw _it away?"

"I know it sounds crazy," Bonnie started unsurely, "but the necklace was giving me nightmares. I had to get rid of it."

"Oh, right, your witchy juju," Jessica mocked. "You could have just given the damn necklace back to me."

Elena joined in the conversation while Caroline was happy to stay out of it. "Why? So you could give it back to Damon?"

"Screw Damon," Caroline spoke up, wanting to ease the budding tension. "Let's do manicures! Who has their kit?"

"Mine's in my bag," Bonnie said.

Caroline looked through Bonnie's bag. "So, Elena, how long do you think this fight with Stefan's gonna last? Is it...like a permanent thing?"

Elena sighed, not wanting to talk about her personal problems. "I don't know, Caroline."

The blonde suddenly gasped when she saw the much spoken about necklace in her bag. She tried to shove it back in before Jessica saw, but middle Gilbert noticed it and rushed over to Bonnie's bag, pushing Caroline aside roughly in the process. "Why are you such a little liar, Bonnie?" she growled angrily.

"What?"

She held up the crystal for them all to see. Caroline stared at the ground while Elena and Bonnie looked flabbergasted.

"I'm not lying to you, Jessica, I swear," Bonnie said, wanting her best friend to believe her.

"It's true," Elena backed her up quickly. "I watched her throw it into a field!"

"Explain," Jessica urged.

"Emily."

"Who's 'Emily'?" Caroline asked.

Bonnie replied, "The ghost."

Caroline scoffed. "A ghost. Seriously?"

They ignored her. Jessica had the decency to look ashamed. "Oh, right. I'm sorry, Bonnie. I've said that around twenty times today."

"I wonder why she won't leave me alone," Bonnie said to Jessica and Elena. She didn't like the notion of a creepy witch ancestor haunting her, but then again, who would?

The blood looked between the three girls. "What's going on?" Caroline questioned them. "Why am I not a part of this conversation? You guys do this to me all the time."

"That's not true," Elena asserted.

"Yes it is." The two Gilbert's stared at Bonnie, shocked. Did she actually just admit to it? "I can't talk to you. You don't listen."

Caroline was incredibly hurt. "That's not true," she insisted.

"I'm a witch," Bonnie blurted.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "And don't we all know it?"

"See?" Bonnie pointedly exclaimed. "That's what I'm talking about. I'm trying to tell you something. You don't even hear it."

She stormed out, sometimes her blonde best friend could be very irritating. Caroline turned to the twins. "I listen. When do I not listen?"

* * *

Bonnie and Caroline were talking by themselves in the living room. Elena and Jessica had their ears pressed up against the wall, eavesdropping. "Bonnie. Look, it's just not me. I don't believe in the... 'woo woo.' But, if you do, then... okay. I'm in. That's all it takes for me to jump on board, because I consider you to be my best friend. And I'm saying this, knowing that the nosy bugger twins are in the kitchen listening to my every word." Jessica and Elena shared a look before giggling softly. "Look, I didn't know how real this was for you, but I'm listening now. Okay?" Her voice became louder as she called out to the twins, "Jessica, Elena, you can come in now. We're done."

Elena smiled shyly as she entered the room. Jessica leaned against the wall. "So, how many apologies was that today?" she asked, smiling.

"About a hundred," Caroline muttered. She took up a much perkier tone as she continued. "There is just way too much drama in this room. So, what do you guys wanna do?" No one suggested anything. The blonde's face brightened as if a light-bulb shun over her head. "I have an idea. Why don't we have a séance?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Bonnie stated nervously. This Emily chick was freaking her out.

"I do," Jessica spoke up, looking between them. Caroline's idea was actually a good one. "Emily's trying to contact you for a reason. She's not gonna leave you alone until you push back."

Bonnie's eyes widened as Jessica said perhaps the most intelligent sentence that even came out of her mouth. Caroline and Elena were staring at her as well. "What?" The brunette smirked and folded her arms over her chest. "I can be smart."

Bonnie reluctantly agreed. They went up to Elena's room to do the séance, the four of them clasping hands. "What are we doing?" Bonnie asked. The four of them were kneeling in front of candles.

"I don't know," Elena replied.

The two of them turned to Jessica expectantly. "Don't look at me!" she exclaimed in a high pitch voice. "One wise sentence doesn't make me a guru."

Caroline, apparently, became a witch expert over night. "Be quiet and concentrate. Close your eyes. Now take a deep breath, Bonnie. Call to her."

Bonnie closed her eyes. She looked unsure. "Emily, you there?"

Caroline's eyes shot open. "Really?" she exclaimed. "'Emily, you there?' That's all you got? Come on."

The Bennett witch rolled her eyes. "Fine, _geez_. Emily, I call on you. I know you have a message. I'm here to listen."

The blonde overachiever nodded approvingly at her. Taking the four girls by surprise, the candles' flames became hotter and larger.

"Did that just..." Elena asked, staring goggled eyed at the candle.

"Uh-huh," Jessica replied. "That just happened."

Bonnie shook her head, wanting to deny the inevitable. This witch business was too creepy for her liking. "It's just the air conditioning."

"Ask her to show you a sign," Caroline said, taking on the role of leader. _Since when did she become the brave one? _Jessica asked herself. "Ask her. Emily, if you're among us, show us another sign."

The four of them waited, but nothing happened. Jessica was two steps away from throwing in the towl. Not only was it freaky, but nothing was actually happening. Except for the candles... but that had to be the conditioning, right? Flying cellphones she could deal with, witchy phantoms she could not.

"See? It's not working," Bonnie stated, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else in the room.

She spoke too soon. The windows flew upon abruptly. The curtains swayed with the wind. Bonnie stood up. "I can't, I'm done." She pulled the necklace off and threw it on the ground. The candles blew out, leaving them in darkness. "Get the light. Please, get the light!"

"Hold on," Elena said, moving towards the switch. "I got it."

They let out a sigh of relief as the light flickered on. Bonnie's relief was short-lived when she couldn't find the necklace on the floor. "You guys, the necklace. It's gone."

"Okay, fun's over, Jessica," Elena said. "You made a point, and I get it. Now give it back."

Jessica's head snapped over to meet her sister's accusing gaze. "What? I didn't take it. See!" She held out her palms. "This is so like you. Blaming me for everything! I don't even have a clue what the hell happened!"

"I don't know either," Elena admitted. "Jeremy, are you home?" she called.

She walked out of the room and checked Jeremy's room. No one was in there. Bonnie noticed the crystal on the floor in the bathroom and warily went in to get it. "Guys..." Suddenly, the door slammed shut. Bonnie jumped in surprise and pounded on the door. "You guys open the door! Help me!"

"Bonnie!" Elena roared. "Bonnie! What's going on, Bonnie?"

"Bonnie!" Jessica and Caroline yelled.

"Come on, Bonnie, open the damn door!" Jessica urged, gripping the handle and trying to get it to open.

Bonnie screamed. "Try the other door," Elena said. "I'll check the hallway."

"Bonnie! Bonnie!" Caroline shouted. "Unlock the door!"

The door opened. Bonnie stepped out, her head in her hands. She looked like she was in a trance. "What happened? Are you okay?" Elena asked.

"I'm fine," Bonnie assured them.

"But you weren't 'fine,'" Jessica stated, confused. "You were locked in the bathroom. What the hell?"

"Unbelievable," Caroline said, shaking her head. She was tired of being treated like a fool. "You were totally faking it."

"Caroline, come on," Elena pleaded.

"No!" she exclaimed. "You scared the hell out of me!"

Elena was looking at Bonnie worriedly. "Bonnie?"

She didn't look like Bonnie. There was something off about her, though Jessica could place what. She was staring blankly into the air. Even the way she held herself was different. She seemed like a nineteenth century woman. "I'm fine. Everything's fine."

Little did they know, their best friend was being possessed by her witch-ancestor, Emily. She rushed down the stairs. She needed to fix the mistake she made many years ago. The tomb vampires would wreck havoc in Mystic Falls. They'd want revenge.

"I can't believe I fell for it," Caroline said, shaking her head as they followed 'Bonnie' down the stairs.

Elena turned to Bonnie, who was acting really weird. "Are you okay?"

"I must go."

Jessica scoffed. "'Must go?' What is this, the eighteenth century?"

_Nineteenth actually_, Emily was about to reply. "She's leaving, I'm leaving," Caroline declared.

"You guys can't leave," Elena said, looking between her two best friends in disbelief.

Caroline rolled her eyes. "I can," she persisted stubbornly. "I've had enough freaky fake witch stuff for one night."

Bonnie's goodbye was much more polite. "Thank you for having me," she replied courtly. "I'll take it from here."

Jessica tilted her head to the side, confusion written on her oval face. "Um... and where do you think your going?" she inquired, watching her best friend warily.

"Back to where it all began," Bonnie confirmed simply.

"Bonnie? Bonnie?" Elena repeated, staring at her like she had grown two heads. Realisation hit the Gilbert like a ton of heavy bricks. "Oh my God! Emily!"

"I won't let him have it," she stated. "It must be destroyed."

"Wait!" Elena cried as Bonnie - or Emily, Jessica wasn't really sure - slammed the door behind her.

Elena ran down the stairs, chasing after her. She attempted to open the door, but Emily spelled it shut. "What's happening?" Caroline asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "The door, it's not..."

The door suddenly opened, prompting to jump back and scream. But it was only Jeremy in the end. He looked extremely confused. Understandably, Jessica reasoned. "What the hell?" Jeremy blurted.

Caroline threw her hands in the air dramatically. "I'm outta here," she said, slipping out of the house.

Jeremy glanced between the two of them, a bewildered expression on his face. He eventually dropped it and grinned, turning to the younger twin. "Oh, Jess, I'm clean."

Jessica almost jumped up and down with glee. "Oh! That's great!"

Giving her one last smile, he went upstairs. Elena took out her phone and was dialing Stefan. "Who are you calling?" Jessica asked, her hands on her hips.

"Stefan," she replied, not realising that it blew her sister's suspicions threw the window.

"What's up with him?" Jessica inquired. Elena shot her a confused look. "Him and Damon. There's something going on. Are they witches too?"

She almost laughed at the prospect. Stefan mentioned to her that witches hate vampires. "No, they're not witches and nothing's going on, Jess. Just go upstairs. Everything will be fine."

"No, Elena!" she all but yelled. "Our best friend is being possessed by some hundred year old witch and my sister is keeping secrets from me. What's up with the Salvatore's?" Elena pressed her lips together and looked away from Jessica. "_Elena_."

"I can't tell you, okay?" Elena said, admitting to her sister that something was going on. "It's not my secret to tell."

Jessica glared at her venomously, but as she placed the pieces together, her glare softened and was replaced with understanding. "It's got something to do with the gaps in my memory, hasn't it?"

Elena didn't respond. Jessica scoffed and walked quickly into the living room, gesturing for Elena to follow her. She picked up her history copy and opened it on a page that had a drawing on it. The eldest Gilbert gaped at the drawing.

It was Damon. He had black veins crawling beneath his dark eyes and fangs coming from his gums. "What the..."

She opened up her French and English copy. Both of them had the exact same drawing in them, but different sizes. "I can't stop drawing them. I go into this trance and ten minutes later, I realise that I'm drawing. I can't even draw, Elena! What's happening to me?"

All the times she'd been compelled, it was having a number on her. Jessica looked as though she was about to have a meltdown. Elena wrapped her in a tight hug, letting her twin sob into her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, Jess," she whispered into the sobbing girl's ear. She pulled back, gripping her by the shoulders. "But I... I can't tell you."

She looked vulnerable as she shook slightly. "Elena."

"I promised Stefan," she muttered, keeping her eyes downcast. She didn't want to see Jessica's betrayed expression. "I can't betray his trust."

"But you're betraying _me_!" Jessica insisted loudly. "You're choosing Stefan - some _boy _- over your own sister?" She scoffed and shook her head. "I can't believe you."

Elena bit her lower lip. She was betraying her twin, but it was for the best. "You wouldn't be able to handle it."

She narrowed her eyes angrily at the girl in front of her. "I've handled much more than you have, Elena."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Thank you guys for the reviews for the last chapter! I got some great suggestions for both pairings and ideas on what to do with the story. And I absolutely love the long reviews! It just warms me up that some people would take the time to write such elaborate feedback for the story. So once again, thank you! And keep 'em coming!_

_There's going to be a Tyler/Jessica friendship in the next few chapters. I'm not sure if I'll make it a romance, but probably not. Besides, I like him with Caroline. What do you think? And a new trait for Jessica's character pops up next chapter (if that even makes sense). We're finally making progress here!_

_Pairings? When do you think Jessica should find out about the supernatural? How should she find out about the supernatural? Tell me what you think!_


	9. The Turning Point

_**Author's Note: **__Sorry for the long wait! School's back and we have a heep of homework. I'll try to update as fast as I can, but updates might be slower than before._

_Enjoy the chapter and make sure to review!_

* * *

**The Turning Point**

"Pencil," Jenna started, placing the thin object into her bag. As she named the object, she put it into her brown satchel. "Four-colour pen, mascara..." She wiggled the tube with a smirk and tossed it into the bag, causing Jessica to laugh as she entered the kitchen. "Notebook, wallet, phone, what am I missing?"

"I think you've brought the whole house, Aunt Jenna," Jessica teased with a smirk of her own. "What's got you so worked up?"

Jenna shook her head, not turning around to look at her niece. "Nothing's gotten me worked up. What makes you think that?"

Jessica put two pieces of bread into the toaster. "You overpack when your nervous. It's a weird habit, but it seems to be your go-to when your stressed."

"It is not..." She began to think it over. "Oh my God. You're totally right. How d'you..."

The brunette tapped her head with her finger, grinning triumphantly. "Perceptive." Jenna shot her a look and Jessica rolled her brown eyes up to the sky. "Fine. I read a wikipedia article about body language and then a documentary about distraction and stress methods."

Jenna spun around, leaning against the counter. "What's gotten you so interested in pschology?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "It's interesting, I guess. And useful. Definitely useful. Maybe I want to follow in your footsteps and get a psychology major."

Jenna smirked. "They're some pretty big footsteps..."

Jessica scoffed, amused and smiled at her kind aunt. "Not to mention it's a great distraction."

"From what?" Jenna inquired. "Damon?"

She shook her head. "So over that. He's a dick with mommy issues that took it out on me. Moving on." Jenna nodded approvingly. Jessica sighed as her toast popped behind her. She took it out of the toaster and put it on chopping board. "It's Elena. She's keeping secrets."

Jenna handed her the butter from the fridge. "Are you sure?"

She hadn't been more sure about anything. "Positive," she insisted firmly. "There's something going on with Damon and Stefan Salvatore. Something really weird."

Jenna scrunched her nose in thought. Elena and Jessica might have been at each other's throats for half of their lives, but they never kept secrets from one another. "Maybe you should talk to her about it."

Jessica snorted. "Already tried that. She made it pretty clear that she wasn't gonna tell me anything, so I've decided to not talk to her until she 'fesses up."

Jenna tugged on her jacket. "Reasonable."

The much-talked-about Elena entered the kitchen, a huge smile on her face. "Jeremy's got his sketch pad out."

Jenna gasped. "You're kidding!"

Jessica rolled her eyes and scoffed. She was glad Jeremy was getting back to normal, she just couldn't stand being in the same room as Elena for more than five seconds. "I'm out," she said, storming off.

Elena stared after her. Jessica, ever the Drama Queen, decided to slam the door loudly. "She's still mad at me, then."

"Can you blame her?" Jenna asked. Elena whipped around to face her aunt, a bewildered expression on her face. "You two are just as bad as each other when it comes to keeping secrets. She's not gonna stop until she finds out."

Elena sighed, knowing that Jenna's words were perfectly correct. She wasn't going to stop.

* * *

Jessica studied for her history test out on the school lawn. Mr. Saltzman was giving them a test next period. Even though she was hell-bent on finding out what secret Elena was keeping from her, school came first.

She looked up, her eyes wide. What was she turning into?

Suddenly, she shut the book. She studied enough to get _at least _a C- in Tanner's class (as opposed to regular D's and the occasional F), and Mr. Saltzman seemed more lenient, not to mention he was interested in her Aunt Jenna, which had to count for something.

Caroline and Matt were walking around the front of the school. When did they become buddies? Matt told her that he wasn't interested in Caroline, maybe that changed. Was it bad that she felt really jealous?

She turned Matt down. She shouldn't be feeling jealous of _Caroline_. Anyway, what was there to be jealous of? What could Matt possibly see in her?

Jessica almost slapped herself for sounding so conceited and petty. Maybe Damon was right and she was shallow. _No. Damon's never right. _She was turning a new leaf. She was going to be _happy_.

She wasn't sure if she knew what that word meant anymore.

Somehow, she managed to feel glad for them. Beneath all of the jealousy, she was glad that Caroline got a good guy. She deserved to feel happy.

"Jealousy is just pouring out of you."

She snapped her head to the side. Tyler was sitting beside her on the bench, wearing his usual 'I'm-such-a-cool-guy' smirk. "Maybe I'm actually happy for them. You know, some of us are actually capable of feeling happy for people."

Tyler rolled his eyes. "We both know you're not capable of thinking about anyone but yourself," he said in a teasing voice. Jessica couldn't tell which part was serious and which part was playful.

She scoffed and got up, slinging her bag over her shoulder and walked off. "Hey, hey!" Tyler called after her. What did he expect? For her to stay and take more abuse? He jogged up to her and grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry. No more teasing."

She glared at him. "There's a fine line between taunts and teasing. You've just crossed it. And I'm not the girl who let people spit insults at her anymore. I've changed."

Tyler smiled. "Then change me." Jessica rolled her eyes at his cliché flirting. "Come on. No more trying it on with you, no more teasing. I'll be 'Mister Nice Guy.'"

She glanced down at his hand, which was still curled around her lower arm. "Yeah, 'cause grabbing people's arms really screams 'Mister Nice Guy.'"

He didn't realise he was still holding her arm. He looked at his hand and pulled it away quickly before grinning sheepishly at her. "Right. No more grabbing."

She half-smiled at him. "Bye, Tyler."

She turned around, but Tyler continued to follow her. "We can be friends. Just friends. I won't even say anything to compromise that."

Jessica faked thoughtfulness. Tyler could see that she was enjoying this very much. She tapped her chin with her finger. "Hm. No."

"I'll make it interesting," he said, stopping suddenly as Jessica went on. "I won't flirt, make out or sleep with any girl for a whole month. Including you."

That caught her attention. Grinning, she spun around, her hand clasping the strap of her bag. "Fine. We can be friends."

Tyler smiled as she skipped away. He knew that he was going to regret it.

Jessica met up with Bonnie in the school cafeteria. "Hey, Bon!" she greeted.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "You're awfully chipper. What drug are you on?"

She threw an arm over Bonnie's shoulder, still grinning madly from the chat she had with Tyler. "_I_, Jessica Gilbert, have just made Tyler Lockwood swear to stop harassing innocent girls and remain abstinent from sex for a whole _month_."

Bonnie was impressed. Tyler Lockwood was the famed player of the school, and not only at football. She didn't know what girls saw in him. "How d'you manage to do that?"

She was less excited about telling her the next part, Bonnie noted. "I agreed to be his... friend."

The mocha-skinned girl untangled herself from Jessica and gaped. "You _what_?!"

Jessica knew Bonnie wouldn't like the prospect of her being friends with the guy who tried to force her to have sex against a tree. A good reason, of course. "Look, I get it. He's a bad person, but he can be a good person, right? Everyone has the ability to be a good person."

Bonnie gave her friend a worried glance. "Okay, what are you getting at?"

"I know that I'm immature," Jessica began. She continued before Bonnie could interrupt and needlessly assure her that she wasn't. They both secretly thought it. "And shallow, but I'm working on it. Maybe I can help Tyler work on his problems too. It's not really his fault when you think about it. If any of us had a father like Mayor Lockwood we'd turn out rude and obnoxious. My point is, everyone deserves a second chance, as long as there's something to work with."

Bonnie was in slight awe of her friend, who was changing like the wind these days. A wide smile broke out on the witch's face.

* * *

It was career night at the school. Something about 'planning your future.' The future Jessica had in mind was pretty basic. She wanted kids, a husband, a nice house by the river and a masters in psychology. For once, she was actually thinking about her future and not the next guy she was going to go out with.

She left the psychology room and went into the art room, where she expected to find Jeremy. To her surprise, Tyler was flipping through a sketchbook. Jessica smiled and walked up to him. "So he draws," she stated.

Tyler looked up and smiled. It wasn't one of his cool guy smirks, it was a genuine smile. "Well, yeah. It's... fun."

Jessica laughed. She didn't think Tyler was into such a cultural hobby such as drawing. "You know, you and Jeremy have a lot in common."

His features darkened as soon as she mentioned Jeremy. Did he really hate her brother that much? "Like what? We screwed the same girl?" She shot him a venomous look. He shook his head. Jessica was just happy that he looked ashamed. "Right, sorry."

"If we're going to be friends, then you're gonna have to respect people," Jessica said, her tone was light and playful, but Tyler didn't doubt that she was serious.

Tyler rolled his eyes, but continued to smile. "Since when did you become Mother Theresa?"

"When I saw that the world needed an angel," she joked with a mock-curtsy. Tyler chuckled. "But seriously, you and Jeremy have more in common than you think." He didn't look convinced. "You both have the whole artistic protege thing going on, not to mention that you're both conflicted teenagers that can sway from nice guy to complete dickhead on a whim."

Tyler raised an eyebrow. "What? You trying to set me up on a date with your brother?"

Jessica shook her head, a disgusted expression on her face. "No." The brunette smirked. "Jeremy's too good for you."

"Hey!" Tyler exclaimed, laughing.

In the corner, Jenna noticed her charge laughing with Tyler Lockwood. She had to end her chat with Alaric and play good guardian. She excused herself from the history teacher and strided over to Jessica.

"You're coming with me," she growled to the brunette, grabbing her arm and pulling her out of the room. Jessica waved goodbye to Tyler. "Why were you hanging with Tyler?" she asked once they were outside of the classroom.

Jessica shrugged, as if he was just some guy from her English class. "He's changed."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "That's what they all say. Guys never really change. Do you forget what he did to you at the start of the year?"

Jessica stared at the floor, not wanting to meet her guardian's half-pitiful half-judging gaze. "No."

She threw her hands in the air exasperatedly. "Then _why _are you friends with him? You should be holding an enormous grudge right about now!"

Her charge finally looked up. "But what good would that do, huh, Jenna? It'd just make the two of us miserable. It doesn't mean I've forgotten what he did, I'll never forget, it just means that I'm able to put it behind me and move on. What's the point in holding some stupid grudge for twenty years?"

Jenna perked up an eyebrow. "Fine, then by all means, let go of the grudge. Just don't be _friends_ with him!"

"Besides," Jessica continued, completely ignoring her aunt. "I'm able to defend myself now. A kick to the groin saves the day every time."

Jenna's jaw fell, though she had to admit, she was proud of her. That's how she dealt with Logan Fell when she found out he slept with Monica. _Ugh, Monica_. That name still made her blood boil. "Fine," Jenna relented, letting out a sigh. "Be friends with him. Just don't let him give you crap."

Jessica nodded, happy that her aunt approved. It wasn't like she was dating the guy, she was only befriending him.

But if he screwed up, he'd face the punishment of the knee.

She went to the history room. Mr. Saltzman approached her. "Jessica Gilbert, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

He smiled before going behind his desk and opening up a drawer. He shuffled through it, looking for Jessica's test that she did earlier. "Ah-hah!" he said once he found it.

Alaric stood up and offered it to her. "The rest of the class will be getting it back tomorrow. I just saw the rest of your results and thought you'd be happy to get this one."

Jessica stared at the 'A-' in the corner of the page. It was written in bright red letters. Honestly, she expected a C, or even a B if she was pushing it. The best she had gotten in history since the tenth grade was a C+.

She gaped, holding the paper tightly, as if it'd go somewhere if she let it go. "Oh my God! I got an A-!"

Alaric nodded, smiling at his joyous student who looked as if she was about to jump up and down with glee. "It was a great test, you should be proud."

"Thank you!" she exclaimed. "I'm gonna show Jenna!"

She skipped off, folding the paper and slipping it into her pocket. She saw Matt in the science room and joined him, still barely holding in her glee. "Still wanna be an astronaunt?"

Matt shook his head, a handsome smile on his face. "I can't believe you remember that."

"The tinfoil hat?" Jessica teased, smirking. "It's pretty difficult to forget."

"I was eight," Matt defended his childhood dreams of becoming an astronaut.

She remembered Vicki. The infamous Donovan went running. Probably meeting up with her mom in going-nowhere-land. "How are you doing?"

"I've had it easier," he said. Jessica noticed how his face just fell. "You? How have you been since the Damon incident?"

Jessica shrugged. "Meh," she replied. Caroline entered the room and watched them. Neither of them had truly gotten over the other, she noted sadly.

"You and Tyler..." he trailed off, waiting for her to fill in the gaps.

Her head snapped over to meet Matt's very accusing gaze. He thought she was with Tyler? "No, no!" she insisted, shaking her head. "It's not like that. We're just... friends. Just friends. Can't a guy and a girl be friends without anyone questioning it?"

Matt let out a chuckle, but the accusation written on his face was still enough to make her wince. "Yeah, right."

Caroline frowned. She turned around and walked away, dragging her feet. "So, Donovan, what's up with you and Caroline?" Jessica asked the blonde quarterback, shooting him a wink.

A slight smile tugged at his lips on the mention of Caroline. "Aw, man, not you too," he groaned.

"_Matt_..."

"We're friends," he assured her. Jessica looked up at him skeptically. "It's not a big deal."

"No?"

"No."

Jessica stared into those baby blue eyes that had the ability to make any girl swoon. She fell in love with those blue eyes. She was _still _in love with those blue eyes. The brunette was tempted to kiss him, in front of everyone. That'd make a scene, but she wasn't that person anymore. She didn't want to be the centre of some high school drama... _again_.

Her gaze shifted from Matt and onto Tyler, who was standing at the door. He looked at her but then glanced to Matt, jealousy burning inside of the hotheaded boy.

He stormed off and back into the art room. He liked art, it was a way to get his mind off of the anger he let loose on a daily basis. He didn't have a clue what was going on. Was it normal to be so angry all the time?

Tyler flipped through his sketch pad. He looked up to see Jeremy Gilbert enter the art room. It was no secret that Jeremy was great artist. The kid gloated enough about it. Said kid was approaching him. "What do you want?" he ferally growled at him.

"Hey," Jeremy replied, as though Tyler was simply an old friend. "Uh, I'm just surprised to see you here. Art usually implies culture and culture implies, well, not you."

Jeremy didn't know how much his words affected him. Just because he wasn't a sobbing ex-druggee with no parents. "Go to hell," he spat.

Jeremy smirked at his response. Curiously, he glanced down at the drawing Tyler had been looking at. His eyes bulged when he noticed the name at the corner. _Tyler Lockwood._

He followed Tyler out of the art room and jogged up to him. "I didn't know you drew."

"It's an elective," he said shortly.

He ignored Lockwood's hostile behaviour. They hated each other, but they could be friends, right? "Because it's good stuff. You like graphics? Cause that's, uh, that's kind of my thing."

Tyler's long strides came to a halt when he sensed Gilbert's weird behaviour. It didn't take a dog to sniff out that he was up to something. "Woah, woah, what are you doing?"

Jeremy stopped and turned around. "Well, it's just something else we have in common."

He scoffed. "What's the other thing? Vicki? Let's hang out because we did the same chick? Go be friends with one of the many other guys that she screwed, there is no shortage of them."

Jeremy clenched his fists by his sides. "You know what? I really don't get what Jessica sees in you."

Tyler growled and punched Gilbert in the face. They began to brawl in the middle of the corridor, only to be pulled away from each other by Mr. Saltzman, who held Jeremy back, and Mr. Lockwood, the Mayor, who held his son back.

"Alright, work it out, tough guy," Alaric said to his student. He knew that beneath the tough, druggee exterior, there was a good, hard-working guy waiting to be released. Not to mention it gained him kudos with Jenna.

The Mayor had other ideas than the ones the history teacher had in mind. "You two, follow me."

Jeremy and Tyler obediently followed him. "Excuse me, Mayor." The three of them turned around to face Alaric. "Where are you taking them?"

Alaric didn't like the Mayor one bit. He wore a classy, high-end suit, but he acted like a pompous dick just because he had some fancy surname. "I'm gonna talk to them. All fights should end in handshakes, don't you think?" He turned back to the boys. Alaric had a feeling that he was going to do more than talking. "Come on."

The Mayor led them out to an empty area, no one in sight and no voices to be heard. Jeremy didn't know what the dodgy Mayor had in store for them. "Okay, let's get this out of your system. Go ahead. Fight."

Jeremy stared at him as if he was a fifty ton elephant on a boat. "You want us to what?"

Tyler shook his head. Sometimes he wondered what the hell was wrong with his old man. "I'm not gonna fight him, dad."

"I don't think so, sir," Jeremy stated reluctantly. He tried to go back inside, but Mr. Lockwood blocked his path by stepping in front of him.

"You don't fight in there like pansies," he explained. "You take it outside, fight your battles like men, and move on. Best lesson my dad taught me. So, let's settle it. _Fight_."

Alaric had followed the three of them outside. "Come on, Dad," Tyler begged desperately.

"That's not gonna happen," Jeremy resisted.

"I said fight!" the Mayor almost yelled. It seemed to Jeremy that he was trying to re-enact some memory of when he was a troubled teenager with anger issues, much like his son.

Tyler tried to leave before his dad made a big, embarrassing scene, but his dad stopped him and pushed him into Jeremy. Alaric walked over to them.

"Woah, what's going on out there?" he asked.

"Just letting these two kids work it out," Mr. Lockwood replied stiffly. "We're good here. Go back inside."

Alaric suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at the big-headed man-child. "I don't want to go back inside," Alaric stubbornly stated. "What I want is an answer to my question. What's going on out here?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" the Mayor spat. "Do I look like a student?"

"No. You look like a full grown alpha male douche bag," he remarked dryly.

Jeremy smirked. He actually liked his history teacher for a change. Tyler was taken aback that Mr. Saltzman had the balls to say that to his father - the _Mayor. _Nobody talked to his father like that, not even him.

The Mayor's cheek reddened. He looked like he didn't know what to do with himself. "You don't talk to me like that. I can have your job like this." He snapped his index finger and thumb together, trying to intimidate the history teacher.

"Ah, you do that," Alaric replied, unaffected by the Mayor's crap. "Then it will be you and me in this parking lot, working things out. You cool with that?"

"You just marked yourself," Mr. Lockwood stated.

Alaric actually did roll his eyes. What did that even mean? "Okay."

Tyler walked away from them. His father followed him out of the car park. Jeremy was still attempting to suppress a large smile. Alaric turned his attention over to him. "You alright?"

Jeremy nodded in awe of his new favourite teacher.

* * *

Tyler was sitting on the bench outside, drowning in self-pity. Gilbert decided to approach him. "What do you want?"

Jeremy looked just as awkward as he felt. "I don't know. I, uh, I thought that was weird with your dad, what he did. Is he like that all the time? Is that... is that what you gotta go through? Man, I-I get it. I get it." Much to his surprise, Tyler got up and struck him hard in the face. "What's your problem?" the Gilbert snapped.

Tyler actually felt kind of bad for taking his frustrations out on him, but his anger was too intense to properly feel apologetic. "Look, I don't need your pity."

"Seriously, you don't have to be like this," Jeremy claimed, holding a hand to his cheek. "You don't."

"Just go," Tyler spat.

Jeremy backed away from him, somewhat humiliated. He didn't give the dick the satisfaction. "What's your problem, man?"

"I don't know, okay?" he said. "I don't know."

Jeremy shook his head and walked off. He turned his head when he heard footsteps approaching. Jessica looked at Jeremy's retreating back and sighed heavily. "What happened?" she asked tiredly.

"Nothing, I..." She gave him a murderous look. "I hit him."

Jessica almost dropped her car keys. "You _what_?!"

Maybe everyone was right about him. Maybe he was just an idiot with anger issues who'd never change. Sure, look at his dad. He was a douche and he was in his forties.

Well, Rome wasn't built in a day.

She spun around to face him, hands on her hips. "First rule of friendship, don't hit your friend's brother. Not a very nice thing to do!"

Tyler ran his hand through his hair. "I know! I just, I couldn't... something just came over me."

Jessica sighed and let a small smile grace her lips. "The _full moon_?" she teased, gesturing behind her and at the moon that was high in the night sky.

He chuckled. "Maybe that's it. You mind if I hitch a ride with you?"

"Sure. It'll give me plenty of time to give you crap for hitting my brother."

* * *

"It's like I'm not in control," Tyler ranted. She reluctantly agreed to go up to his room with him. He said he needed someone to ramble to. He really wasn't kidding. For the last twenty minutes, all that was discussed was his anger issues. "My dad's pretty much the same. He lashes out a lot. Especially at night time."

Jessica straightened up from her previous position of holding her head in her hand. "Wait, so you're especially angry at night?"

Tyler nodded. "I don't know why, but-"

She jumped up, surprisingly joyful. Tyler raised an eyebrow at her. "That's great! Well, not exactly 'great,' but at least you know when you're really angry."

Tyler sat up straight. He decided to go old-fashioned counselor style. "And that helps how..."

"Because self-awareness is the key to a happy, stress free life," she said chipperly. "When you know what triggers your anger, then you can sort it out."

He got onto his feet. "But I don't know what triggers it."

Jessica shrugged. "It could be tiredness, or maybe you just don't like the dark." She winked playfully at the taller jock.

"Hey, are you calling me a wuss?" Tyler questioned, folding his arms and trying look like Mister Tough guy.

"Call it whatever you want." She grabbed her bag. "I gotta go. Jenna'll be suspicious."

Tyler nodded. He held open the door for her. "Right. I'll see you at school?"

She smiled. "Maybe."

He chuckled as she walked past him and out of his house.


	10. Bloodlines

**Bloodlines**

Jessica walked into the kitchen, brushing a loose strand of brown hair behind her ear. Jenna and Jeremy were in the kitchen. It had become a frequent occurrence, but the sight of Jeremy studying was still shocking. Where was her no-good, druggee brother gone?

"Have you seen Elena?" Jenna asked her as the younger girl took out her phone and began texting someone. "She didn't come home last night."

She shrugged nonchalantly. "How am I supposed to know? It's not like I actually _talk _to that lying sk-"

"_Jessica_."

The brunette rolled her eyes, which were fixed on her phone. Tyler was messaging her. She was beginning to wonder if he actually had a life outside of texting her.

Jessica came up with the rubber band method. Whenever he decided he wanted to punch someone's face in, he'd just snap it. Of course, not all plans were perfect and he did still throw the occasional punch at his fellow football team members, but he no longer attacked Jeremy or innocent bystanders unfortunate enough to be within a yard during his most heated moments.

"Who're you texting?" Jenna questioned, placing one hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow.

"Just someone," Jessica answered quickly.

Jeremy scoffed. He knew about his sister's new-found friendship with his arch-Nemesis. "Tyler _dick _Lockwood, that's who." Jessica shot him a murderous look. Jeremy smirked, satisfied that he got his sister in trouble.

Jenna gasped, which Jessica thought was a bit too dramatic for the current situation. "That's who you've been texting all weekend?"

The younger Gilbert twin smiled sheepishly and slipped her phone into her pocket. "Uh, yeah. I thought you were cool with it."

"_Cool_?" Jenna blurted in complete disbelief. "Cool is when you give your kid permission to have a sleepover, not hang out with the town's notorious _brat_ with anger issues."

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows together in confusion. "But at the party you said..."

"I was fluffed up by your history teacher, okay?" Jenna exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. Jeremy chuckled quietly. "Not to mention that Logan kept trying it on with me. I wasn't exactly in my best guardian-decision-making mind, so nothing I said in that period should be taken seriously, got it?"

Jessica shook her head frantically. "No. I don't 'get it,'" she insisted. Jenna gave her a questioning look that spelled 'you're kidding, right?'. "Okay, I totally get it, _but _I think he's changed."

Jeremy looked between the two alpha females. He didn't want to get involved (despite being the one who practically started the dispute), but the amount of absolute _crap _spilling from Jessica's mouth prompted him too. "Actually, Jess, Tyler is as much of a dick as he was when he punched me. Two days doesn't change anyone."

Jessica scoffed, while Jenna looked alarmed. "Wait, Tyler _punched _Jeremy and you still think he's a good guy?"

"No," Jessica blurted out before she could stop herself. She quickly tried to correct her words. "Well, he can be. I mean, look at Jeremy." Said brother straightened up upon being used as an example. "During the summer, he was a screw up druggee with attitude problems. No offense."

He shrugged. "None taken."

"And now, he's a complete well-behaved nerd!" she happily exclaimed, gesturing to her brother. "Again, no offense."

Jeremy rolled his eyes and Jenna shook her head, not convinced. "Jeremy was always a good guy, Tyler has always been - and always will be - the spoilt Lockwood ass. There's only one good person that's come from that family and that's Mason, and even he had anger issues. Watch your back, Jessica."

She suppressed the intense urge to roll her eyes. "Fine, whatever. I'll 'watch my back.'"

* * *

"You're gonna do hockey?" Tyler asked, surprised. Jessica rolled her eyes at his pessimism. She could do hockey, right? All that she had to do was hit a ball with a stick. "Sorry, Jess, but you don't really seem like the hockey kind of girl."

Jessica grinned. "Oh? And what is the 'hockey kind of girl'?"

Tyler smirked. "Big build, bushy hair, pimples."

She smacked his arm, but the brunette couldn't contain her laughter. "Hey! That's stereotyping, not to mention it's wrong!"

"You're too dainty," he stated. Jessica shot him a confused look. "I mean, your kind of... delicate. You wouldn't be able for the big ass sports like hockey."

Jessica scoffed. "Wow, Tyler, it's great that you have so much faith in me!"

"Hey, I'm just trying to make sure you come out of high school alive," he claimed, raising his hands in front of him. "Don't shoot me."

She smiled. "Well, I _am _doing hockey and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"No?" Tyler pressed. Jessica shook her head, her chin dramatically high in the air. "What about this?"

He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her up before spinning in a circle. Jessica let out a high-pitched scream. "Gahh! Tyler! Put me _down_!"

He chuckled and set her on the ground. Jessica straightened her creased top. "Don't tell me you didn't enjoy that."

Jessica hid a grin and pulled up her bag strap. "Don't do it again."

* * *

"Two laps around the pitch, girls!"

Jessica, like most of the girls, groaned. Some of them were super fit, cross-country runners. She was no such thing.

She dropped her stick on the ground and began to run. A girl called Sarah, who was in her physics class, side-jogged over to her. "Hey. I didn't know you did hockey."

"I don't," she admitted. "Well, I didn't. I just needed to start up a new sport."

She nodded understandingly. "Yeah, me too. My mom made me join a sport. She said I was spending too much time on my computer and _Facebook_."

Jessica laughed. "Don't we all?" The blonde giggled. She reminded her of Caroline. They both had the carefree nature. "Hey, is she," Jessica gestured behind her and at Miss Bynes, the hockey coach, "always like this?"

Sarah nodded and sighed heavily. "Mhm. I think it's because she doesn't have a husband. I heard that she hasn't dated anyone in six years."

Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe that someone stayed single for that long. "Woah."

"I know."

They returned back to the coach after one more lap. Jessica felt like a marathon runner at that stage. Her face was covered in sweat. She felt disgusting and tempted to check her underarm for a sweat stain.

She picked up her hockey stick. "Now, I want you to get a partner and do some push passes." Jessica turned her head to look at Sarah. What were push passes? Sarah gave her a pointed look and nodded to the hockey coach. "I'm sorry, Miss Gilbert, are we interrupting you?"

Jessica whipped around to face the teacher. "No, um, sorry, Miss."

"If you're going to force me to put up with your insufferable presence _outside _of class, the least you can do is behave," she scolded bitterly. Jessica clenched her fists to stop herself from lashing out, or _crying_. Where was her rubber band when she needed one? "Is that clear?"

She nodded, a sneer tugging at her features. "Yes, Miss Bynes," she muttered.

"Good. Off you go."

* * *

"I saw you at the pitch today," Jeremy teased, smirking. "Are you sure you should be doing hockey? You missed the ball like... _four times_."

"Beginners mistake," Jessica snapped. "Pass the salt."

Jenna grabbed the salt shaker and placed it beside her. "Besides, Miss Bynes _hates _me. I don't know why, but she hates me."

Her guardian shrugged. "Well, you did call her a brawny bimbo."

She scoffed. "That was a year ago. She can't still be mad."

"It was two months ago," Jenna replied.

Jessica smacked her forehead with her palm. "It doesn't matter."

"Oh!" Jeremy spoke up, eager to speak. Jessica tried to hide her face behind her hands. "Remember that time when you called her the Devil's child?"

She straightened up and pointed a fork at him. "That really _was _a year ago."

"Sure," Jeremy said, rolling his eyes.

Jessica stood up and brought her plate over to the sink. "I'm gonna have a shower."

"God knows you need one," Jeremy muttered.

Jessica huffed and stormed out of the kitchen, heading up to her room. She slipped into yet another trance.

* * *

Jessica walked into her room, her hair was drenched. Strangely, she couldn't remember what happened before she had a shower. It was yet another blank. She seemed to be having more of them lately. Now, the images were Damon with blood dripping from his fangs.

The brunette rubbed her hair with the white towel that was wrapped around her shoulders. When she looked up, she noticed three sheets of paper on her bed. Two were the usual ones of a monster's face that looked so much like Damon's, the other had three words written on it.

Gingerly, she picked up the page. _"Elena's journal. Va"_

Her alter-ego obviously hadn't been able to finish the sentence, but Jessica was clever enough to finish it herself. "Vampires," she whispered in realisation.

She folded the page and shoved it into her bedside locker. Elena still hadn't come home. Jessica figured her disappearance had something to do with that little secret of hers.

If her alter-ego was right, then vampires really did exist. If witches existed, then why couldn't vampires? The prospect of the supernatural wasn't very exciting anymore. She put the pieces together in her head. There was enough evidence. Damon bit her and used some form of mind control on her. What other explanation was there?

She went into Elena's room. Jeremy wasn't home since he went to the library, which Jessica was still trying to get her head around, and Jenna was finishing an assignment on her laptop. She was pretty much safe.

She deserved to know. Elena was keeping secrets from her, she shouldn't be worried about disrespecting her privacy.

Jessica knew that her twin hid her journal underneath her pillow. A very silly and cliché hiding spot, even _Jeremy _would be able to find it. She stuck her hand beneath the pillow and pulled out her sister's journal, flipping through it until she stopped on the page she wanted.

_"Dear diary, _

_I'm not a believer. People are born, they grow old, and then they die. That's the world we live in. There's no magic, no mysticism, no immortality. There's nothing that defies rational thought. People are supposed to be who they say they are. And not lie or hide their true selves. It's not possible. I'm not a believer, I can't be, but how can I deny what's right in front of me? Someone who never grows old. Never gets hurt. Someone who changes in ways that can't be explained. Girls bitten. Bodies drained of blood..._

_There's only one way to explain this. _

_Vampires."_

Jessica's eyes widened, her suspicions having been confirmed.

* * *

Elena slammed the door closed behind her. Damon decided to whisk her off on some roadtrip. Surprisingly, she actually had fun. She felt... free.

She couldn't stop the guilt that was boiling inside of her. He was a _vampire_, granted, Stefan was one too, but he was good. Damon was the epitome of a bad, bloodthirsty vampire. Not to mention he abused and fed from her twin sister.

Jenna, who was standing in the hallway, turned around. "I don't set a lot of rules, Elena. Not with you. I trust you to tell me the truth. Where were you? Why would you lie to me about it? I thought that we were closer than that."

Elena's nostrils flared angrily as she glared at her guardian. "Now is not the time you want to talk to me about lies."

Jenna was gaping at Elena, who was moving over to the staircase, not even sparing her a glance. What could she have possibly done to anger her? "Don't do that. Don't turn this back on me. I didn't do anything."

Elena stopped and spun around. "Okay... Question. Jessica and I... are we adopted?" Jenna stared at her dumbfounded. How did she find out? "I trust you to tell me the truth too, Jenna. How could you not tell me? I thought we were closer than that."

"Elena, I didn't... they asked me not to," Jenna tried.

"I don't want to hear it!" Elena exclaimed before storming up the stairs, slamming her bedroom door shut behind her.

She ran her fingers through her brown, straight hair. Her face was flushed red with anger. She felt betrayed. Jenna should have told her. She shouldn't have kept a secret like that from her.

As she walked further into her room, she noticed Jessica sitting on the edge of her bed, Elena's journal beside her. "Hey, what..."

She stood up quickly. Elena flinched at the glare her twin was giving her. "You're a hypocrite, Elena." Jessica's tone was quiet and deadly. Elena would have preferred her to shout, like she usually did. "You give out to people for not telling the truth when you've been keeping it from me this whole time!"

Jessica held up the journal and Elena's eyes widened. "You shouldn't have."

She scoffed. "Oh, don't give me that crap about reading your journal. It's the only way to find out the truth around here." She shook her head slightly and let out a harsh, derisive laugh. "Damon used me as his own personal blood bag and you never told me!" Elena gaped. "Yes, Elena, I can actually put two and two together. He wiped my memories, _twisted _them. I didn't have a clue what was going on! But I know now." She stepped closer to Elena, a scowl etched on the features so identical to her sister's. "And I'll hate you forever for keeping this secret from me."

Elena took a shaky breath. "You can't tell anyone."

"How about the council?" Jessica suggested. "Like you wrote in your journal, don't they hunt vampires?" Elena was shocked. "They're monsters, Elena. After what Damon did to me... I just want them gone."

Her voice was shaking as tears welled up in her brown eyes. "Stefan's good, Jess," Elena said. "And Damon... well, he's a dick, but he's Stefan's brother. You can't."

"Yes, I can," Jessica assured her. She took out her phone.

Elena glanced worriedly from her sister to the phone in her hand. "What are you doing?"

Jessica wiped her eyes. "I'm calling the sheriff," she stated, determination ringing in her tone.

"No!" Elena all but yelled. "Jessica, please, don't!"

She shook her head frantically. "I have to, Elena. It's for... it's for the best."

Damon sauntered into the room. He had been on his way to the Grill for a drink when he heard their exchange. "What's going on in here?"

Jessica backed away from the vampire in front of her. "Stay the hell away from me."

Damon rolled his eyes. "Give me the phone, and no one gets hurt."

"But they will anyway, won't they?" Jessica asked. She read enough of Elena's journal to know that Damon was cold-hearted killer. "You kill people for sport. You're a vampire... you're a monster."

He let out a sigh. He wouldn't show how much those words actually hurt him. "Yes, yes. I'm a bad guy. Just give over the phone, sweetie, and I can make it all go away."

"No!"

Damon smirked when he realised he didn't smell any vervain. Except for the vervain in Elena's necklace, that was. He stepped closer to the whimpering girl. "Give me the phone."

Robotically, she handed him her cell. He grinned and gave it to Elena, who definitely didn't approve of his methods. "Damon, we could have just asked her."

He waved a nonchalant hand in the air. "Psh... too much effort. Now, what do you want me to do with her?" He gestured behind him with his thumb. "Compulsion, threaten, _bribe_."

"She won't tell anyone, will you, Jess?" She looked pleadingly to her sister, who pressed her lips together and looked away. "_Jessica_, come on. Please."

She gnawed at her bottom lip. "No. I won't tell anyone about Stefan, but _him_." She glared at the raven-haired vampire. "I won't make any promises."

Damon narrowed his eyes at the brunette. "Not good enough." He vamped towards her and gripped her shoulders. The human struggled beneath him. "Elena, your consent."

Elena knew exactly what he was talking about. "Why are you asking me?"

"I don't want Stefan on my trail because I upset you," he lied. "Anyway, if she squeals about me, then everyone will know about your true love's vamp-problem. If I go down, he goes down. So, compulsion or risk it?"

Elena looked like she was actually contemplating it. "Elena, no!" Jessica begged, worry and fear flashing in her eyes.

She bit her lip and replied, "Compel her." Tears pooled up in Elena's brown orbs. "I'm so sorry, Jessica."

Jessica shot her one last glare before Damon compelled her. "You're gonna forget all about the supernatural, except for what witchy told you. As far as you know, Stefan and I are normal human beings with no bloodlust. You're not gonna be suspicious or look into anything. There's no such thing as vampires."

Her pupils dilated. "There's no such thing as vampires."

Elena was sobbing. She wrapped her arms around her torso. "I'm so sorry."

Jessica's gaze shot over to her. She smiled and tilted her head to the side. "For what?"

"Go to your room," Damon instructed, compelling her again.

Jessica walked out of Elena's bedroom and into her own. Elena sat down at the end of her bed. "I feel terrible."

"Well, you shouldn't," he replied. "It needed to be done."

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__I know a lot of you really want Jessica to find out soon (and I do too, believe me) but I have an idea on how I'm going to get her introduced to the supernatural. I don't want this to be like the other stories where the OC follows the whole vampire storyline. _

_I hope you don't hate me! Review, favourite and follow, they're like my daily dose of awesomeness. _


	11. Unpleasantville

_**Author's Note:** I am so sorry about the super long wait! I'm back at school and things are hectic, so unfortunately, updates won't be as often as they were in the summer. Don't get me wrong, I'll be continuing this, it's just with homework and studying, I don't have all that much free time. I've also started reading 'Lord of the Rings' which I can barely put down! I hope you guys can forgive me and thank you for being patient! Enjoy this chapter (which is shorter than usual)._

* * *

**Unpleasantville**

Jessica stared at the necklace bound around her neck. It was golden (not real gold, but it sure was pretty). Elena gave it to her. "Wow. What's the occasion?"

Elena smiled. She still felt guilty about having Damon compel her to forget, but he was right. It was kind of was for the best. Jessica wouldn't be able to handle all of that, and she had Damon to thank for that. "No occasion. Just a... friend gift. Hey, can you give Caroline this?" She held up another necklace.

She frowned. "Caroline's been avoiding me. I think it has something to do with Matt."

She took the necklace anyway and put it into her bag. "Well, Caroline's interested in him. It might be good if you gave her the go-for. You are cool with them, aren't you?"

Jessica nodded her head, even though she wasn't sure if she was. "Um, yeah. Anyway, what about our birth parents? Found out anything?"

Elena sadly shook her head. "No. Nothing. Stefan's looking into it."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "What would Stefan know? Is he a chief detective or something?"

Elena laughed. "No, he's just... he wants to help. It's weird, though. That we're adopted."

"Incredibly weird," Jessica agreed. "I'm really curious about how our mom looked like. Or maybe we got our looks from our dad..."

They didn't really get their looks from either of them, whoever they were. They got their looks from Katherine. Elena knew that now, having seen the picture. "Maybe we'll find out. This is nice. I miss having regular sister talks like this."

Jessica smiled. "Aw!" she exclaimed, throwing her arm's over Elena's shoulder and wrapped her in a tight hug. "I love you too!"

Elena pulled back, laughing. "So, what's up with you and Tyler Lockwood?"

"We're friends." Elena shot her a look. "What? It's true. It's kind of a bet... anyway, he's actually not that bad. Sure, he has those anger issues but other than that, he's alright."

"Well, if you're happy..." her sister said unsurely.

Jessica nodded. "I am."

* * *

At school, Jessica and Caroline were walking around the school lawn. The blonde cheerleader was playing with the necklace Jessica had given her. "It's pretty," Caroline noted happily. "Tell Elena how much I love her."

Jessica laughed. "Mhm, I will."

"Are you two talking again?" Caroline asked, giving her friend a worried glance.

She nodded. Caroline was surprised to see that there was no sense of animosity or dislike for her identical twin sister on her face. "Yup. I can't even remember why I was mad at her in the first place."

"Something about her keeping secrets," she told her.

Jessica shrugged her shoulders. She didn't seem to care anymore, which was very unlike her. "It's none of my business, I guess. I just don't feel mad anymore. It's kind of weird, but all this worrying is going to give me wrinkles. So, what's up with you and Matt?" Caroline chewed her lower lip. They sat down at a bench on the lawn. Jessica shot the blonde an encouraging smile. "Come on! I'm totally happy for you. So, what's the smut?"

Caroline rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless. "I was gonna talk to you about that. I was, but there's just not much to say. You know, we've hung out a couple times. That's it, but... I just feel like we've peeked as friends." Jessica nodded understandingly. "This is weird. I shouldn't be talking to you about this. It's weird. It's weird, right?"

"Just tiny bit," Jessica said, using her index finger and thumb to indicate how small the awkwardness was, a small gap between them. "But, if you guys are happy, then it's not about me."

"But it's all about you!" Caroline insisted sadly. "Matt's so not over you, and we all know it."

Jessica sighed. "Well, he's gonna have to. After Damon, I think I might become a nun." Caroline laughed. "Matt understands that. He knows he has to move on."

Caroline stared at the brunette as she unwrapped her chicken sandwich, completely unconvinced. She shook herself out of her mood and continued chirpily, "How about you, missy? _Tyler Lockwood_." She shot her a wink.

"Not you too," Jessica groaned. "We're _friends_. F-R-I-E-N-D-S. Why can't people fathom that?"

"_Because_," Caroline started, "you guys already slept together." The Gilbert winced. "Sorry, I know that it's a sensitive topic for you, but this is _high school_, of course people are gonna make a big deal about it!"

Jessica bit into her sandwich, a thoughtful look etched on her face.

* * *

"History, physics, geography and then Math," Bonnie listed, groaning. "Such an amazing afternoon."

"Technically, it's midday," Jessica piped up, raising her finger. The Bennett witch shot her a glare. She obviously was _not _a morning person. "Geez, chill. What's got you so worked up?"

Bonnie sighed and opened her mouth to respond, but closed it when she realised that she didn't know what to tell her. Elena had told her that Damon compelled Jessica. She didn't agree at all, but Elena used her Bambi-eyed trick and Bonnie promised not ot say anything. "Uh, just... school. Totally stressed out." She gave her a reassuring smile. "But I'll be fine."

Jessica nodded, staring behind her and at Matt and Caroline, who were talking happily by the bathrooms. Bonnie furrowed her eyebrows and turned around to see what Jessica was looking at, before whipping back around and raising her eyebrows. " I thought you were cool with them."

"I am!" she exclaimed, her voice was high-pitched. Bonnie shot her a questioning 'are you serious?' look and she sighed, her shoulders falling. "Fine, maybe I'm a little... _not _cool, but it's not like I can tell him not to go for it! He deserves to be happy."

"Yeah, he does," Bonnie agreed.

Sarah approached the two of them, giving Jessica a warm smile. "The hockey team's on the noticeboard if you want to check it out."

Jessica's face lit up like a lightbulb. She grabbed Bonnie's arm and dragged her over to the board. The brunette skimmed through the names until she reached hers. "Oh my God! I'm on the team!" She turned back to Bonnie, smiling madly, and gripped her shoulders, shaking the innocent girl. "I got on the team!"

"Great," Bonnie said, evidently uncomfortable, but that didn't seem to process in Jessica's overjoyed brain. "Can you, uh, _not _shake me? That'd be even more great."

"Oh, right." She took her hands off her and smiled sheepishly. She turned back to the noticeboard, more specifically the list of names that caused her so much joy. "This is gonna be a good year."

* * *

"Miss Bynes! Miss!" Jessica called, running through the halls and trying not to bump into the students who were rushing to class.

The blonde teacher turned around and groaned. "Yes, Jessica?"

She ignored her biting tone and continued. "You put me on the team. I thought you hated me?"

"I don't hate you," Miss Bynes admitted. Jessica's face lit up. "I just don't... particularly like you." Her expression crumbled. "Don't take it too personally, you remind me of the type of girls I hated at school."

She furrowed her eyebrows together. "How?"

"Cheerleader, snobby, spoilt, popular, completely naive and stuck up," she listed. Jessica's shoulders fell as she sent her hockey coach another incredulous glance. Miss Bynes shook herself out of a trance. "Anyway, I've got to get to class. Congratulations on making the team."

She spun around and left, leaving a thoughtful Jessica behind her.

* * *

_"You remember Ben, right?" _Bonnie asked over the phone.

"Uh, _yeah_!" Jessica exclaimed as she scribbled down her French homework. "Total babe, football God, now working at the Mystic Grill as a washed-up jock? Pretty hard to miss."

_"You're being shallow, he's nice," _she insisted.

"Hey, I didn't say don't date the guy, just don't take it too seriously. You'll be thanking me when you dump him 'cause he's taken you for too many coupon dinners."

_"I just need a break."_

Jessica smirked. "From witchy juju?" she whispered. "Yeah, I would too."

_"Do you still have those trances?"_

Her face contorted in confusion. "What trances?"

_"Oh, nevermind."_

She knew that something was going on, but strangely she felt the urge to just ignore it. She had no reason to be suspicious, did she? "So, decade dance. What're you wearing?"

* * *

"Having fun?" Elena asked the three girls in front of her.

"No," Caroline responded. "But this took about two hours, so I'm at least staying half of that."

Caroline, Jessica and Elena laughed as Bonnie looked at something or someone past Elena. "Fair enough," Jessica commented.

"What's Damon doing here?" Bonnie inquired suddenly.

Jessica raised her eyebrows and turned around, as did Caroline and Elena. Damon, the very bane of Jessica's existence, was standing beside Stefan. Elena whipped back around. "He wanted to come. I promise, he'll behave."

"Is this a threesome or something?" Jessica asked and Elena shot her an incredulous look. "You and the Salvatore brothers?"

She shook her head frantically. "No, but if I'm gonna be with Stefan, then I have to learn to tolerate Damon. It's not like I can kill him."

"There's a thought," Bonnie said.

"Mmm, I'll help," Jessica chimed in.

"And I'll drive the getaway car!" Caroline exclaimed happily, giggling.

The three of them clinked their glasses and Elena looked at the floor, trying to suppress a very large smile.

* * *

"_Ugh, _Damon's a dick," Bonnie groaned, pouring herself a glass of alcohol.

Jessica raised her glass. "And don't we all know it."

Bonnie smiled slightly as her friend took a very long swig of her drink. Something had gotten her upset, Bonnie was curious as to what it was. "Uh-oh, you're stress drinking."

The brunette quirked an eyebrow. "I do that?"

She nodded in response. "I thought you were the psychological go-to girl?"

Jessica shrugged. "I guess I'm not as good as I thought."

Bonnie shot her a pointed look. "Off topic. Come on, spill. What's up?"

She let out a sigh and plopped down on one of the chairs, propping her head up with her hand. "Why's it always her?"

"Who?" she questioned, somewhat confused.

Jessica's gaze was on Damon and Elena, who were talking on the dance floor along with Stefan. She noticed the longing in both of the Salvatore brothers' eyes and it broke her heart. "_Her_. Elena. Even Damon prefers her, and we look the _same_!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "What's wrong with me, Bonnie? What the _hell _is wrong with me?"

Bonnie gave her a sympathetic smile and sat down beside her. "They just don't see the real you, but I do, and so does Caroline and so does Matt and Tyler. And we love you for it."

She looked up with hooded eyes. "You do?"

Bonnie nodded frantically. "We do."


	12. Children of the Damned

_**Author's Note: **Hi guys! Sorry about the long wait (again) and the short chapter. I just didn't know how to make it longer :( Anyway, enjoy! And the next chapter will be up soon hopefully!_

* * *

**Children of the Damned**

"I seriously _hate _pool," Jessica exclaimed after the white ball hit the side of the table - _again _- without touching one of the yellow balls.

Matt chuckled, he was almost finished potting all of his. "You've mentioned that around thirty times by now."

"One for every ball I fail to hit!" she growled angrily, leaning against the wall behind her. Matt pursed his lips together, barely concealing a laugh. "Hey, buddy! Quit the sniggering!"

He went into a fit of heavy laughter, clutching his stomach. His laughter only became louder when Jessica failed to hit yet another yellow ball. "That totally touched it!" she insisted, pointing frantically at the ball.

"Uh-huh," Matt said sarcastically, grinning. "_Sure _it did."

Jessica smiled despite herself. "Hey, guys," said the sweet voice of Caroline Forbes as she walked towards them, stopping beside Matt. She kissed the quarterback on the cheek, which sent the three of them into a world of awkwardness.

Jessica knew that they were together, and she was cool with it, but it didn't make it any less awkward. "So, eh, nice weather were having?" Her attempt to clear the awkward atmosphere came out as more of a question.

Matt nodded frantically. "Gorgeous. Um... Caroline, how about we, uh, go now?" He turned to Jessica. "If you don't mind."

She shook her head. "No, no. Go ahead."

He smiled gratefully at her and walked off. Jessica sighed dramatically as she stared after them.

* * *

Jessica entered her house, shutting the door closed behind her. She went into the kitchen, where Jenna and Damon were. She was shocked to say the least. Jenna hated Damon more than even she did! Well, that was an exaggeration, but Jenna really did detest Damon. Something fishy was going on, but for some reason, she wasn't all that curious.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she asked angrily.

"Jessica, be nice," Jenna warned urgingly. Jessica gaped at her. Did she not know that this man - no, this _creep _- was the one who sent her niece spiraling into depression and the darkest insecurity state ever? "Damon's seen the error of his ways. Its about high time you forgive him."

She looked between the two of them, from her smiling aunt, to the obnoxious, smirking Damon. "_What_?"

The raven-haired Salvatore shrugged nonchalantly and began slicing a tomato. "So, what was your love life like?" Jenna asked curiously.

Jessica furrowed her eyebrows together. She was talking about Damon's love life - when it was clear he only even _bit _and _abused _his girlfriends - in front of one of his ex-girlfriends who he treated like _crap_?

"My father never approved of anyone I dated," Damon started, "which only made me want them more. Of course. What about you?"

"There were a few guys," she replied. "Logan isn't the only loser I've dated."

Jessica's mouth fell even further. She threw her arms in the air. "I'm _so _out of here!"

She stormed up to her room, slamming the door shut loudly behind her. A few minutes later, Elena entered her room. "I guess you saw Damon downstairs, huh?"

"Jenna's actually _talking _to him!" she exclaimed. "She said that she _hated _him! She's where I got most of the adjectives I use to describe Damon from! She can't... she just... what the actual hell?"

Elena sat down next to her. "I know, maybe you should just hang here until he leaves?"

Jessica's nostrils flared. "Don't tell me _you're _friends with him too!"

"No," Elena replied immediately, shaking her head. "No. Definately not. I only tolerate him for Stefan."

Jessica nodded. "Alright. I'll be a loner up here for the evening. Until Damon leaves, then I'll kill Jenna."

Elena laughed. "Right then."

* * *

Later that evening, when Jessica was sure that they had gone, she rushed downstairs and into the kitchen, where Jenna was cleaning up the dishes.

"How could you?" she demanded.

Jenna turned around and leaned against the sink, looking shocked. "How could I what? Why are you acting like this?"

She clenched her fists by her side. How could she not know what she'd done wrong? "_Seriously_?" Jessica said disbelievingly. "You actually don't know. Well, let's see. You invited Damon Salvatore - you know, the guy who messed up my mind, played with me like a toy and _abused _me - into our house and had dinner with him like he was an _old friend_. So, excuse me if I'm a little angry."

Angry was an understatement. She was _fuming_. Jenna straightened up, as if realisation had just dawned on her. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Oh my... what did I... I would... I never!" She brought her hand up to her forehead. "Oh, Jessica, I-I'm sorry! He messed with me... I don't... I..."

All previous hostility Jessica felt disappeared. Damon could be very persuasive and he was a very talented manipulator, but Jessica never thought he was _that _good. Perhaps it was just another thing she didn't know about him. She wrapped Jenna in a comforting hug. "It's okay. I understand."

Jenna pulled back, tears shining in her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Jessica gave her a reassuring smile, even though she had no clue what was going on. "It's _okay_," she stressed.


	13. A Few Good Men

**A Few Good Men**

Jessica plugged in her earphones and began to run. Getting onto the hockey team meant that she had to get fit, since hockey was, like most sports, an endurance sport. So far, she could run one and three quarters of a mile before she wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

The physical rewards that came with sports and running were satisfactory. Her slim legs had become toned and almost muscular, not body-builder muscular, only slightly. She felt better in herself (Jessica read that physical activity produced endorphins in the body, chemicals that made someone happy and upbeat) and much more confident.

Her cheerleading had even improved, since she was able to perform for even longer due to her newfound endurance. She enjoyed being one of the sporty people, she even got Miss Bynes to _like _her!

(Well, Miss Bynes didn't like anyone much, but Jessica liked to think that she was one of the people that hated the least.)

_Come on, Jessica, work through the pain! _She urged herself silently. Positive thoughts encouraged the body to work harder, negative thoughts and her body would shut down. She read a lot of articles on running, in great detail.

Duke's party was only a few days ago (his real name, actually, was Bob) and Caroline made a deal out of clasping Matt's hand in front of her. The new lovey-dovey couple had an argument after that.

Bonnie's grams died the night of Duke's party. After the funeral, she went to her aunt's house.

She noticed a man approaching a few yards away, looking rather sketchy. She took a deep breath and tried to ignore him, but his glaring eyes were hard to simply ignore.

Perhaps it was too early in the morning to go for a run (six o'clock, to be exact). She never thought that creepers got up that early.

If she had any sense, she would have crossed to the other side, but unfortunately, she didn't. As she passed him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. He was unnaturally strong. "Katherine," he hissed.

Jessica flinched, she heard that name before coming from Damon's lips. "I'm not Katherine," she replied, struggling in his grip. It was useless, however.

The man let out a harsh laugh. "You're still the same, scheming bitch as you were one hundred years ago. How is it fair, that you escaped while we desiccated in the tomb? Have you ever starved, Katherine? Let me tell you, it is _not _pleasant."

Her lower lip quivered. One hundred years... "I'm not Katherine! I promise!"

"You heard the lady." They both turned to see Damon. The man seemed to recognise him. "She's not Katherine. Katherine was a doppelganger, meet one of her doppelgangers, Jessica."

The man glared at him. "Well, it does not matter. I haven't had any blood in the past one hundred and forty years, I think it's poetic to drink from her exact copy's neck."

'Exact copy'? She wasn't an 'exact copy' of anyone!

"Eh, no," Damon said, smirking as he sauntered over to him. "'Fraid not. Bub-bye, bimbo."

He ripped out the man's heart and stared at it, scrunching his nose in disgust. He tossed it into the dumpster before throwing the body over his shoulder. "Come on."

Jessica's breathing increased rapidly. "What _are _you?"

"A vampire." He compelled her, for about the one hundredth time in only a couple of months. "You remember everything, except for the little encounter with Elena. You won't tell anyone, you're fine with it, actually."

Getting out of her compulsion-induced daze, she shook her head and turned to Damon. "You're a vampire," she said, surprisingly came with it. "And... you fed on me. How many times have I been compelled?"

He rolled his eyes. "A _lot_. Trust me. Well, what are you waiting for? I have a body to bury."

He whipped around and made to leave, expecting her to follow him, which the doppelganger did. "Why do you want me to come with you?"

"Because I'm on the rebound, and you're gonna be my rebound girl."

_Great._

* * *

Damon sunk his teeth into Jessica's neck, sucking at her doppelganger blood. He liked to imagine it was Katherine, his vampire love who hadn't been in the tomb. Jessica's red blood filled his mouth, tickling his vampire senses.

Once he was satisfied, he pulled away from her neck, her blood dripping from his chin. "How do I taste?" she asked innocently, genuinely curious.

"Gorgeous," he slurred drunkenly. "Much better than anything I've ever tasted."

Suddenly, somebody turned off the lights. Jessica slumped off Damon's lap, the blood loss taking affect. Her eyelids became heavy. "No!" Damon exclaimed. "Buzzkill Bob."

Stefan turned off the music. "Greetings," Damon said.

"Can we talk?"

"Yeah." Stefan gestured to Jessica. "Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Jessica. She's really good at keeping secrets." His brother gave him a worried look. Damon took another swig of his alcohol. "You're worried about me. That's nice. Don't be. There's no need. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? I spent the last one hundred and forty five years with one goal: get in that tomb. I succeeded. Granted, Katherine wasn't in there to be rescued, but why dwell? You know, it's so liberating not having a master plan, because I can do whatever the hell I want."

Stefan winced. "That's kind of what I'm afraid of."

"Relax. I haven't killed anyone in..." He sighed wishfully. "Too long."

"And Jessica?"

"She'll end up in her room with a headache, thinking she blacked out," Damon explained. "Business as usual."

"She's not a toy for you pick up and play with whenever you want to, Damon," Stefan scolded. "She's a human being-"

Damon waved his hand. "Yada, yada, yada. Predictable you didn't pull me over here for a pep talk. So drink up." He shoved a bottle of alcohol into Stefan's chest. "Spill it, brother."

Stefan put the bottle of alcohol on a table. "There was a woman you may have known a few years back named Isobel in North Carolina at Duke."

The elder Salvatore scoffed. "You wanna discuss the women in my past right now? Seriously?"

"You killed her," Stefan simply stated.

"What's your point?"

"I just… I just want to know if you remember anything about her."

"Oh, it's like a needle in a haystack, Stefan," Damon said.

"Well, think hard. It's important," Stefan urged.

Damon grabbed Stefan's shoulder and slurred into his ear. "Nothing is important. Not anymore." He clapped his brother on the shoulder, which could have been thought of as a brotherly gesture if it was anyone _but _Damon. "Great chat. I have to go exploit my true love's doppelganger in the name of grief, which I'm sure you understand. Send Elena my regards."

Stefan sighed and turned around, knowing that it was much too dangerous to tell Damon not to do something, since he'd do something ten times worse in retribution.

* * *

Later that day, he carried Jessica home and laid her on her bed, putting in the effort to tuck her in. He almost felt... remorse. Was it wrong of him to abuse someone just because of who they looked like? By modern standards, yes, it was, but vampires were different. They were above any human moral laws.

He compelled her to forget everything... again. He wondered if too much compulsion could cause a human to become crazy. Elena told him about the drawings. It was a side-effect he never saw before, in the whole century and a half he had known of vampires.

He let his knuckles graze her cheek. She was innocent, he still craved her innocence and naivety.

But she'd learn. It was inevitable that she'd find out about vampires. The effect that had on her depended on how she found out, but Damon knew that it wouldn't be very positive.

Silently and swiftly, he rushed out of the doppelganger's room.

Jessica fluttered her eyes open groggily. The curtains swayed from some sort of wind, despite it being relatively calm outside. She rubbed her eyes tiredly. What happened? Had she gotten too drunk?

The raffle at the Grill! She promised Caroline she'd go. Not to mention Elena promised to catch her up on the latest 'who's our mom' drama.

* * *

"Tickets for the raffle are now on sale. All proceeds benefit the annual Founder's Day celebration."

Jessica walked up to Caroline, who was selling tickets at the booth. They were soon joined by Matt and Elena. "He's already been hit on, like, thirty-five times," Caroline said. "He's total cougar bait."

Elena smiled. "Impressive."

Matt's face reddened. "More like embarrassing."

Caroline and Jessica laughed. Mrs. Donovan - Matt's mom, Kelly - entered the Grill. "Hi, Mrs. Donovan," the blonde greeted.

Kelly shot Caroline, who was only trying to befriend her, a look of disgust that made her flinch. Matt's mom soon turned to the younger Gilbert twin. "Jessica, honey."

She smiled at the older woman. "Hello!"

Mrs. Donovan embraced her in a warm hug. "Long time, no see."

She pulled back from the hug. "How are you?"

"Oh, same old," she told her. "Matty tells me you broke his heart."

Jessica fidgeted with the hem of her dress awkwardly. How much did she actually know? "_Mom_," Matt warned.

"Just kidding," she said quickly. "Calm down. He found his rebound girl." She nudged her head towards Caroline, who looked ready to burst into tears. Jessica didn't blame her. "Oh. Here you go, sweetheart. However many that'll buy." She handed her son's girlfriend some money, who smiled at the woman. "I just hope I don't get Bachelor three. I dated him in high school. Not impressive." She began to whisper. "In any way."

Jessica sniggered as Matt shook his head, his face reddening in a blush for the second time that day. "Very exciting." She walked into the Grill. Elena spun around and saw Alaric. Jessica noticed their look. That 'look' said that they both knew some juicy information. Alaric went off and Elena turned towards them again, looking very downtrodden.

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Did I miss something...?"

Elena sighed heavily. "Yes. A whole lot."

* * *

Elena explained to her that their mom - who was called Isobel - was also Alaric's wife, who died. (She was also a cheerleader, which was very important info to Jessica.) She still didn't know who their father was.

"She's so pretty!" Jessica exclaimed as she looked at the photo of their mum in her cheerleading uniform. "But isn't it a bit too cliché? Pregnant teenage runaway, gets married to a man that later becomes her twin daughters' history teacher and dates her daughters' adoptive aunt? Sounds like a bad soap opera to me."

Elena laughed. "Yeah." Jessica really had no idea how much their lives had become like a soap opera.

Their attention was directed towards Carol Lockwood, who was introducing the bachelors. "And what do you do, Bachelor Number Three?"

He twitched awkwardly. "Yeah... I'm a plumber."

Jessica contained her laughter at Carol Lockwood's disappointment. He really didn't give the snobby woman much to work with. "Well, isn't that wonderful? We could always use more plumbers. Moving on. Number four: 'Alaric Saltzman.' Wow. That's quite a mouthful. What do you do, Alaric?"

"I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High," he informed her.

"Oh, beauty and brains, ladies," Mrs. Lockwood said. "This one's a keeper. What do you teach?"

"History."

"History," she repeated, still wearing her false, aristocratic smile. "Oh, well, give us a fun fact about Mystic Falls, something crazy."

Alaric turned towards Damon, who put a hand up to his ear, sarcastically waiting for a response. "Uh, well..."

Mrs. Lockwood pulled the microphone away from him, noting his hesitation. "He's probably saving the best stories for his date." She walked down the line to Damon. "And last, but not least, Damon Salvatore. We don't have much on you."

Elena waved towards her boyfriend, Stefan, from her booth. "Well, I'm tough to fit on a card," Damon bragged.

"Do you have any hobbies, like to travel?"

He nodded, smirking. "Oh, yeah. LA, New York. Couple of years ago, I was in North Carolina. Near the Duke campus, actually. I think... I think Alaric went to school there. Didn't you, Ric?" The two men turned to look at each other. "Yeah, 'cause I... I know your wife did." Jessica looked over at Elena, whose expression had faltered. She tilted her head in confusion. "I had a drink with her once. She was... she was a great girl. I ever tell you that? 'Cause she was... delicious. Mmm! Mmm, mm, mm!"

Did Damon have an affair with Isobel or something? Why did everyone look so heartbroken? And why did Elena's jaw fall and was currently an inviting habitat for flies?

Tears pooled in her brown eyes as her eyes narrowed at Damon. Jenna turned to her. "Are you okay?"

"I just need some air," she answered briskly. She pulled herself off and walked out of the Grill, her Salvatore boyfriend following her out.

Jenna looked to Jessica for an explanation, but the younger girl just shrugged.

* * *

Carol held up a ticket and read out the number. "37649."

The women in the crowd moaned and groaned in disappointment. Jenna raised her hand. "That's me."

She 'won' Mr. Saltzman. Well, wasn't that a coincidence?

"Congratulations."

Jenna walked up to the Mayor's wife and recieved her ticket. "And Bachelor Number Five, Damon Salvatore." She took out another ticket. "37552."

Jessica and Jenna were at the booth. Her guardian was handing her ticket to Caroline, who was going to 'formalise' Mr. Saltzman's and Jenna's date.

"Would you look at that? 37552. What are the chances? Me." Carol Lockwood looked more than pleased, but Damon wasn't in the room. "Where'd he go?"

"She totally rigged it," Jessica whispered to Jenna and Caroline.

The blonde nodded in agreement while Jenna snorted. Mr. Saltzman walked up to them. "I'll call you later," he told Jenna before exiting the Grill.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__Thank you for being super-de-duper patient! I have a few chapters done now so we should be on Season Two pretty soon. I have a plot for Season Two made out already! I hope you like it!_

_Make sure to review! They keep this story going!_


	14. There Goes the Neighborhood

**There Goes the Neighborhood**

"We're having a double date," Caroline informed her with a large smile. "Elena, Stefan, Matt and me... you can come if you want."

Jessica snorted. "And be the fifth wheel? No thanks."

Caroline turned around and stood in front of her, blocking her path. "Please. Its just _so_ awkward between us and we have to work through that awkwardness. We can't exactly avoid being in a three-way conversation for the rest of our lives!"

"Yeah, we can," she argued, trying to step past Caroline, but the blonde blocked her way once again. "Oh, come on, Caroline!"

"_Please_!" she begged, stomping her foot on the grass like a child. "I just, I really want the three of us to be able to hang out. We've become, like, best friends and I can't even talk to you about this stuff."

Jessica sighed and chewed on her lower lip. "Fine." Caroline perked up, a very large smile on her face. "I'll see you tonight then."

* * *

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Elena asked. "I mean, you know Caroline... She might get a little-"

"Jealous, control freaky, vicious?" Her twin nodded. "Elena, we've been friends with her for years, I know how she is. I'm just not gonna mention anything about when Matt and I were together and she should be fine."

Elena smiled. "Very strategic."

Jessica laughed. "Very strategic indeed."

* * *

"So, Matt, How do you like working here?" Elena questioned the busboy, trying to bring up a new topic of conversation to keep the night rolling smoothly.

"It's not that bad," he stated. "Wait staff is pretty good and they can't keep a bartender to save their lives. I actually put my mom up for a job."

"How's that been?" Jessica asked. "Having your mom back?"

"You know, same old Kelly." Matt sighed. "She's trying, sort of."

"Kelly and our mom were best friends growing up," Jessica told Stefan and Caroline. "Elena, Matt and I shared a crib when we were babies. That's how we first met. Three gurgling babies."

Elena and Matt laughed. "You're kidding?" Stefan said.

"No, we've known each other our whole lives."

Jessica turned to smile at Matt. _Look away from the baby blue eyes... friend's boyfriend... you friendzoned him... Gah! _Caroline's sad sigh brought her back to reality. The five of them turned to look at Damon, Kelly and Jenna drinking together.

_Responsible guardians my ass._

* * *

Jessica, Matt, Elena, Stefan and Caroline were at the pool table, watching their guardians - and brother, in Stefan's case - get drunk. "At least they're having fun," Caroline commented.

"They're drunk," Elena pointed out.

"Remember when Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert busted us here after homecoming?" Matt said, a goofy smile on his face as he reminisced.

They all laughed. "Oh my god, yes!" Caroline exclaimed.

"Well, we were wasted," Jessica said. "It was the first time I ever had alcohol, and the first time I even got drunk. I totally blame Matt."

"Her parents got seated at the next booth," the quarterback continued.

"And Matt had me pretend that I was choking so we could get away," Jessica contributed.

"Except that her dad was a doctor so he jumped up to save her."

"And I ran, slipped on the wet floor despite their being a huge, yellow sign that said 'wet floor' and bit it in front of everyone." Jessica giggled. "Do you remember that? Three stitches, a goddamn hangover for four days and I was grounded from seeing this one..." She pointed to Matt. "...for a week."

Jessica and Matt shared a look and laughed. Caroline did not look pleased. "I'm gonna go to the restroom. Elena? Jess?"

* * *

Elena washed her hands at the sink while Jessica leaned back against the wall. Caroline had her arms folded in front of her, sitting behind them, and looked pointedly at Jessica. "So, um, what are you doing?"

Jessica's gaze snapped over to her. "Uh... what?"

"Well the point of this was to show him that you were happy being single," Caroline explained. "And to get over the awkward atmosphere. You know, not to hopscotch down memory lane!"

She raised her hands defensively in front of her. "I was just trying to make conversation. You _know_, to ease the 'awkward atmosphere'."

Caroline narrowed her eyes at her friend. "Try less."

"Caroline!" Elena exclaimed as the blonde stormed off. She turned to Jessica. "Come on."

Jessica crossed her arms and took a haughty stance. "No," she said defiantly.

Elena rolled her eyes. "Jessica, you're acting like a child. Come _on_."

She shook her head. "No. She's the one acting childish. You go after her. I'm not dealing with Miss Pouty Green."

Her twin sighed, finally realising that she wasn't going to budge, and followed after Caroline herself. Jessica stood in front of the mirror and applied some more blush to her cheeks.

"Katherine."

She spun around to face a tanned, pretty woman. Jessica groaned in frustration. "I'm _not _Katherine! My name is _Jessica_. J-E-S-S-I-C-A. Jessica Gilbert. Nice to meet you."

The vampire narrowed her eyes. "I'm watching you. If you give me any reason to believe your Katherine Pierce, I'll kill you. Understand?"

Jessica gulped, but nodded. The woman walked out of the bathroom.

What the hell was going on in Mystic Falls?

* * *

"This is so much better than watching Stefan's idiot brother, no offense..."

Stefan chuckled. "None taken."

"...visit cougar town, which happens to be where Matt's mom has taken up residence." She turned to Matt and smiled sweetly. "No offence."

Matt sighed. "Don't remind me. Man, I've always wanted to see what it looks like in this place."

Stefan laughed uneasily. "Yeah... I guess it's a bit much."

"Yeah, my entire house could fit in here. like twice."

Jessica frowned. "It feels like I've been here before. Like deja vu. It's weird."

Elena twitched guiltily and bit her lip. "Do you guys want to watch a movie or something?" she suggested, trying to change the subject.

"Whoa, these are great!" Matt exclaimed. He walked towards a miniature car collection, that was presumably Stefan's or Damon's, and Damon didn't seem the type of person to persue any hobby.

"This is uh... a little hobby of mine," Stefan told him.

Matt smiled. "I did the entire Mustang collection when I was nine."

"You like cars?"

"That's an understatement."

"Come with me."

* * *

Stefan led them into the Salvatore Boarding House garage. He opened the garage door. "Prepare yourself, my friend."

He took off a tarp from a car. Matt stared in awe and wonder at it. Jessica resisted the urge to scoff at there boyishness. "Wait, how do you have this?" he asked.

"Got passed down through the family," Stefan smoothly lied.

"Why don't you... I mean, why don't you drive it?" the busboy questioned.

"Well, it doesn't run," the Salvatore told him. "I mean, its not that I could figure out."

"Why would you keep a car doesn't run?" Caroline inquired. Jessica was wondering the same thing.

Matt smiled at her. "Be more of a girl right now?"

Caroline laughed. "Hey," Stefan said to Matt, "wanna come take a look at this for me?"

"Jess, remember the old Camaro you're dad used to have?" Matt said.

Jessica nodded. "Of course. Matt here rebuilt that engine twenty times. Dad kept on screwing it up."

Stefan raised his eyebrows. "Wow."

"I don't like sport's cars," Caroline spoke up. "They're took hard to make out in."

Matt turned to his ex-girlfriend. "It wasn't that bad."

The younger Gilbert twin closed her eyes firmly shut. Why did he have to bring that up? Everything was great until he had to mention their make-out session in a sports car! Thank God he didn't mention that they went to third base in there.

Caroline stormed out of the garage. Elena and Jessica shared a look before Elena followed after her.

"I'm gonna head home," Jessica said. "Too much drama for one night."

"You want a lift?" Matt offered.

Jessica shook her head. "Nah. I'll walk. It's Mystic Falls, nothing bad ever happens around here."

Unless you're counting 'animal attacks.'

* * *

"So, what happened after I left?"

"Nothing much," Elena's reply was muffled since she was brushing her teeth. "Caroline and Matt took a long ride in Stefan's car."

Jessica nodded. "Cool."

Jeremy joined them in the bathroom. "How was your night?" Elena asked him.

"Ah... same old, same old. You guys?"

"Yep," Elena answered simply.

* * *

**_Author's Note:_**_That has to be my quickest update in ages! Hope you guys liked the chapter and sorry that it was short. I'm kind of rushing it to get to the good stuff in Season Two._

_Make sure to review! :)_


	15. Under Control

**Under Control**

They found Vicki Donovan.

The storm from the night before blew over the land used to bury her body. Other than that, they didn't know anything.

Jeremy's weeping sounds kept Jessica awake last night. Sure, she never liked Vicki, but she certainly didn't want her dead. Besides, she was Matt's sister, and Matt loved her.

Jeremy seemed to get over Vicki, and moved on to some girl called Anna. Jessica had seen them - always innocent and fully clothed when she found them - in Jeremy's room together. She was nice, from what Jessica gathered, but perhaps she was a little biased. Anyone would be better than Vicki Donovan in her eyes.

She used a black bobbin to tie her hair at the end of her plait. Smiling slightly at her acne-free, happy face, she slung her bag over her shoulder and walked out of her room. She almost skipped into the kitchen, where Elena and Jenna were.

She took an apple from the fruit basket and bit into it. "We're gonna be late," Elena told her.

Jessica looked up at the clock. Once she noticed what time it was, she almost choked on her apple. "Oh, crap!" She ran out of the hall, Elena following her. "Jeremy! Get your ass down here!"

"Insensitive," Elena muttered to her.

She rolled her eyes. "I prefer the term 'tough love'."

Just as Elena was about to snap back, Jenna joined them in the hall. "Forgot this." The strawberry blonde handed Elena a thermos.

"Thank you," she replied gratefully.

Jessica opened the door, only to find Uncle John at the threshold, about to knock on the door.. She never exactly _liked _Uncle John, but she didn't hate him like Jenna, she simply tolerated him.

"Jessica!" John greeted.

She put on a courteous smile. "Uncle John! What's up?"

Apparently, nobody answered to 'what's up?' anymore. "Elena!" he turned to Jessica's exact copy.

"Hey!" she replied, a lot more chipper than Jessica could even muster.

John gave her a smile before looking at Aunt Jenna. "Jenna."

"John, you made it," Jenna noted dully.

"I said I'll be here before noon."

Jenna was almost sneering at the man. "Oh, what you say and what you do are typically two very different things."

Jeremy ran down the stairs. "Uncle John, what's up?"

_Again, no proper answer. _"Hey!" John greeted. Jeremy slapped him on the back in a brotherly fashion, before heading out the door.

"I had some business in town," John said. "I thought that a visit was in order."

"How long are you staying?" Elena inquired.

"I don't know yet," he replied.

"Right," Jessica started, deciding to be the pragmatic one for once. "Well, we've gotta get to school. See you later."

She grabbed Elena and left. "What was that about?" Elena asked, shrugging Jessica off her.

"I sensed tension," she stated. "Between Jenna and John. Not to mention the fact that 'what's up?' is clearly not taken seriously in modern day culture."

Elena turned her head to stare at her sister. "What?"

She sighed. "Oh, nevermind. Just drive druggie and me to school."

Jeremy whipped around. "Hey!"

* * *

"Cheerleading this afternoon," Bonnie announced, taking a bite out of her chicken sandwich.

Jessica groaned. "And I have a history test that I didn't study for!"

"You have to go," the black-haired witch urged, giving Jessica a warning look. "Caroline will have a fit if you don't. She might even kick you off the team. You know how she is."

"Of course I do," she replied. "We've been friends for God-knows how long. She's a control freak, but we love her for it."

Bonnie laughed. "Remember when we were younger, and you guys used to have the worst fights?"

Jessica joined in on the laughter. "Oh, yeah. Most of the time, it was over dolls or dress-up clothing." She sobered up quickly when she thought of happier days, before her nights were ruined by Damon Salvatore. "Now, we fight about guys. I miss the innocence."

Bonnie sighed. "Me too. But everyone has to grow up sometime."

The brunette straightened her back. "And I am currently in the process of doing so."

Her friend laughed and threw a piece of chicken at her, which landed on her top. Mayonnaise dripped from where the white meat landed. "Bonnie!" Jessica shrieked.

She winked at her. "Just reminding you not to grow up."

* * *

"I've no interest in the Founder's Day kickoff party," Jeremy said, groaning at the thought of being social for a night.

"Sure you do," John assured him. "Its tradition."

Jenna, who was also in the kitchen, scoffed. "It'll be our role to _break _the tradition.

John ignored her. "The Gilbert's have been a part of this town for a hundred and fifty years. We're one of the founding families and with that distinction comes certain obligations including going to the party. One day, when you can appreciate the significance, I'll tell you all about your heritage."

"Hm, the Gilbert family legacy," Jenna said mockingly. "I forgot how sacred it was. I'm not a Gilbert so I was never cool enough to hear it."

_Neither am I, when you think about, _Jessica thought.

"Why does she hate you?" Jeremy asked John lowly.

"We used to sleep together," John whispered back in response.

Jessica choked on her food as Jenna threw a bag at John. "I'm standing right here!"

* * *

Elena came home later that evening. Jessica and Jeremy were playing GTA in the living room. "Where were you?" Jessica asked her twin. "You missed dinner _and _John's confession."

"Oh?" Elena pressed.

"Jenna and John used to sleep together," Jeremy told her.

She snorted, choking on her own phlegm. "What?" she shrieked. "And Jenna never told me?"

Jessica rolled her eyes. "You don't have to know _everything _Elena. You're not God."

There was knock on the door. Jessica paused the game. "I'll get it," she stated, noticing how Jeremy and Elena, who decided she was going to sit down, wouldn't budge.

She opened the door to Damon. _Damon. _Her blood began to boil. "Damon," she all but growled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He smirked that _annoying _smirk of his that Jessica once thought was attractive. "I was invited. Oh, there she is." Jessica turned her head to see Elena approaching behind her.

"Oh, good, you're here," Elena said, giving Jessica a worried look.

So, they _were _friends!

"You ask, I come," Damon commented, wanting to get Elena into more trouble than she already was in with her sister. "I'm easy like that."

Elena gestured to the stairs pointedly. Damon looked behind them and saw Jeremy eating in the kitchen. "No, Elena!" he exclaimed loudly. "I will not go to your bedroom with you."

Jessica was too dumbfounded to even comment on any of it. Not even how Elena dragged him upstairs by the arm while he laughed. Jeremy was standing in the kitchen, staring on, just as confused as she was.

"Did I miss something…" Jeremy trailed off. "Did you guys switch Salvatore brothers?"

She sighed. "Unfortunately, no."

* * *

"I told Jeremy that we were adopted," Elena told her, shutting Jessica's bedroom door behind her. "He took it…" She let out a laugh. "Well. Really well. He even teased me."

Jessica scoffed as she put in a pair of silver earrings into her ear. The Founder's Day Kick-off party was being held at the Lockwood Mansion that night, she had planned to get ready with Elena, but Jessica decided that she was going to give Elena the silent treatment for the night.

"Jessica…" she trailed off. The younger twin sensed the beginning of one of Elena's 'I'm always the victim' speeches. "Damon, he's Stefan's brother. I tolerate him and I usually try to ignore him, but Stefan's having a bit of a tough time."

She perked up and turned around. "Tough time how?"

"He has a, um, low tolerance," she tried to explain. "And he's gone on a binge."

She gawked. "Stefan's a teenage alcoholic?" Jessica cried.

"Well, not exactly…"

Jessica got up and wrapped her arms around Elena. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" she apologised, which only made her sister feel worse. "God! What is wrong with me? I should have known something was up… and here I thought you were having a threesome with the Salvatore brothers!"

Elena quirked an eyebrow. "You did?"

Jessica chewed on her lower lip and nodded nervously, staring at the floor. "Me and Caroline had this theory…" She looked at her identical twin, who was almost glaring at her. "But nevermind! We were wrong! End of! Now, let's go!"

She rushed out of her room, Elena following close behind her. "I can't believe you guys thought that… ugh! I _hate _Damon with a fervour!" the brown-haired ex-cheerleader ranted. "Impossible… just impossible!"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Elena."

* * *

"Matt's unraveling," Tyler stated, joining her in the study. "He wants everyone to think that he's okay when he's not."

"He lost his sister," Jessica retorted. "Of course he's gonna be upset. The only thing is that he thinks that it's bad to show some emotion, even when it's warranted."

Tyler sighed and sat down next to her. He handed her a bottle of tequila. Jessica took it gratefully. Founder's Day Parties were a blow, especially to the younger generations. "My parents were here last year," Jessica mused sadly. "My mom was talking with your mom about the _next _Founder's Day celebrations. She loved this kind of stuff."

"Yeah," he said, giving Jessica a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry."

She laughed despite the mood. "At least you're improving. No more super angry jock."

Tyler chuckled. "Thanks to you."

Jessica smiled and turned her head to meet his eyes. They had become closer in the past few weeks. Even though it was after his celibate promise, Tyler still didn't flirt with her or try anything, and that made Jessica… want him.

Without thinking, she crashed her lips onto his. Jessica didn't know what she was doing; Impulse, maybe? Whatever it was, it felt good. His tongue slipped in between her lips and began discovering her mouth. She wounded her arms around his neck as she straddled him. Tyler moaned into her lips.

A smirk crossed her lips. The last time she had been 'intimate' with a guy was with Damon, and he was an idiot (even though he was _great _in bed) so he didn't count. Matt was sweet and loving in the sack, but Tyler was wild. Even though she was only with him once, Jessica knew that he was skilled.

He unzipped the zipper on the back of dress. Jessica pulled her dress down so that it rested on her hips. Tyler kissed her cleavage all the way down to her stomach, grinning when he noticed how she threw her head back in ecstasy.

Then the negative thoughts came and took all the joy away from her like a hover sucks up dirt. What would Matt think? Or Elena? She didn't know why she cared so much… she just did.

Just as Tyler was going to undo her bra strap, Jessica blurted, "Wait!"

He looked at her in shock. "What?"

She got off of him and pulled up her dress. "I can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" Tyler questioned, a trace of anger in his tone. "It's simple: I put it into your-"

"I know!" Jessica exclaimed. "I know what a guy and a girl do during sex! I just… can't do it. Not now."

"Why?" Tyler asked. He wasn't even bothering to conceal his frustration. "Don't tell me you're still hung up on Matt because that ship has sailed."

No, it hadn't, Jessica was tempted to bite back. Even though it sounded cruel, Jessica knew that Matt would drop Caroline in a second if she decided that she wanted him back. She still did have feelings for Matt – more than just a few – but Caroline deserved to be happy.

"It doesn't feel right," she tried. Why did she have to stop at the good part? She was almost regretting being decent. "I'm not a tramp."

"Oh, really?" Tyler scoffed. "Since when?"

Jessica flinched. It hurt. He probably didn't realise how much his words her, but they did. She let him in, and he still perceived her as a 'tramp' and a slut. Tears welled up in her brown eyes and she rushed out of the study.

She ran into one of the many bathrooms in the Lockwood Mansion. She fell onto the floor, hugging her knees and letting sorrow and self-pity engulf her for what felt like the one hundredth time in the last couple of months.

* * *

What was the point in crying? What exactly did being weak solve? Jessica knew that she was being hard on herself, but sometimes a little tough love was what a person needed to keep going. And since everyone else was busy or didn't care, she had to be her own best friend.

She wiped her eyes. Luckily, the red under her eyes had went quicker than usual. She came across a very drunk Matt in the hallway.

"Who knew I've been missing all the fun at the Founder's parties?" Matt asked her.

Jessica laughed. She was thankful that he didn't notice her state. "Um, yeah. Well, it's a rarity."

"Is it bad that I'm enjoying myself?" he inquired with a tint of guilt.

She shook her head. "No, it's great, really. You deserve it. If anyone deserves it, it's you." She gave him a reassuring smile.

Matt laughed. "Hey, I need some air. Come with me?"

Jessica looked over at Stefan, who was drinking at the bar. She was worried for him, more specifically Elena. Her sister was probably worried sick. "Sure."

"You haven't seen my mom have you?" Matt asked as they walked outside.

"No," she replied. "Not in a while."

Jessica gasped when she saw one of the most shocking and traumatising sights she had ever seen. Tyler was kissing Kelly Donovan. "Oh God!" she almost screamed, covering her mouth with her hand.

Matt stormed over to them and grabbed Tyler, pulling him away from his mother. "What the hell are you doing, man?"

"Matt!" Kelly begged.

"Mom!" Matt exclaimed, almost screaming.

"Whoa, dude," Tyler slurred drunkenly, "calm down."

Obviously, that wasn't what Matt wanted to hear, since the quarterback punched Tyler in the face as soon as the words slipped out of his mouth. They began brawl and accidently pushed Kelly onto the floor. Tyler got on top of Matt and began pummeling him in the face ruthlessly.

"Tyler!" Jessica yelled. "Stop! Stop it! You're hurting him! Somebody help!"

People rushed out from the party to watch the boys fight. The Mayor and Mr Saltzman dragged the two away from each other. "What the hell is that?" Alaric exclaimed, appalled at their idiotic behaviour.

"I'll take it from here," the Mayor assured everyone. "I'll take it from here." He turned to his son. "Are you hurt? Go get cleaned up. It's okay."

Tyler left, but not before giving Jessica a glare on his way out. "Everything is fine. Come on everybody! Let's get back to the party. Let's go. Come on, have a good time!"

Jessica stood beside Matt, who was bleeding profusely. "Are you alright?"

"Where is she?" Matt snarled.

"I don't know and it's not important," Jessica told him. "Put your head up, idiot."

* * *

Later that night, Jessica was on her laptop, learning about neurons on Wikipedia when she heard a knock on the door.

She got up, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, and went downstairs to answer it. She pulled her nightgown over her pyjamas and tightened it. Who called at this hour in the night?

She opened the door. Matt stood on the porch. Jessica folded her arms, an amused smile on her face. "You do know that they've invented this thing called a cellphone? You can _talk _to people without actually having to _walk_. Isn't that great?"

"I kicked my mom out," Matt deadpanned.

Jessica stepped back. She didn't expect Matt to be that serious about it. "Matt…"

"She only came back because her boyfriend broke up with her," he said. "I'll always be her back-up, when things don't go her way, the place where she runs to."

"She loves you, Matt," Jessica tried to reason with him.

"I know she does," he agreed. "But she needs to grow up because I'm not being the adult."

Jessica nodded. "Well, if you think that's the right thing to do, then…"

"I do."

She bit her lip. "Then… I guess it is. Do you want to, uh, come in?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah."

Jessica had never seen Matt Donovan so close to tears before.


	16. Miss Mystic Falls

**Miss Mystic Falls**

"Okay, this week we're gonna set outside our regular curriculum for a lesson in local history as we approach Founder's Day. Apparently the community leaders feels it's more important than World War II, but hey what do I know?"

Jessica was doodling on her note's copy when she looked up in confusion. Why had Mr Saltzman stopped his epic speech on how crazy our community was?

Her eyes landed on her best friend, Bonnie Bennett. She straightened her back, giving Bonnie one of the largest smiles. "Sorry I'm late," Bonnie said to the teacher.

"Well, it looks like we'll be at full occupancy today." He smiled at her. "Welcome home, Bonnie."

She gave Jessica and Elena a smile as she sat down on one of the seats. Jessica noticed how her smile faded and her eyes narrowed when she saw Stefan. Wait, didn't Bonnie _like _Stefan? She knitted her eyebrows together in confusion.

'What?' she mouthed to Elena, who only shook her head and shot Stefan a confused look.

* * *

"Bonnie Bennett!" Jessica called as she ran over to Caroline, Elena and Bonnie. She wrapped her arms around her. "How are you?"

"Better. Better," she assured them. "You know, glad to be back and trying to keep myself busy."

"Well, I can help with that," Caroline chirped happily. "Major wardrobe problem. You need to help me pick out the perfect dress for the Founder's Court!"

Elena looked at Caroline like she had grown a new head. "The Founder's Court? Did I miss something?"

"The Founder's Court!" she repeated. "You know, Miss Mystic Falls. They announced it today and you, me and Jessica are all on it."

"I completely forgot!" Jessica exclaimed. When she signed up, she was so excited about it, but the excitement had went away since her mother's death.

Elena nodded in agreement. "We signed up for that ages ago."

"So, are you guys dropping out then?" Caroline asked disappointedly.

Elena shared a look with Bonnie. "I can't," she said.

Caroline looked to Bonnie for clarification. "Their mom is the one who wanted them to enter."

* * *

Carol Lockwood and two other women were interviewing the girls for Miss Mystic Falls. "This year's queen will have the special honour of taking stage at the one hundred fiftieth Founder's Day gala. Before we crown our winner, we'd like to get to know a bit more about each of you."

* * *

"Jessica Gilbert," the Mayor's wife started, "are you involved in anything? Sports, clubs, activities?"

"I'm on the cheerleading squad in Mystic High, top of the pyramid." Carol laughed. "I do gymnastics inside and outside of school. Uh, I'm the left mid on the hockey team and I've joined the cross-country team this year. I used to be part of the school's 'Go Green' scheme, led by Mr. Watson, but the meetings for that was on the same day as hockey, so I had to quit."

"That's a lot of stuff," one of the interviewers said.

Jessica laughed. "Yeah. I like to keep busy. It takes my mind off of the, um, less welcomed thoughts. You know, about my parents."

She felt somewhat guilty, using her parents' death to get sympathy, but at least it was the truth.

Carol nodded, sympathy etched on her face. "I know, honey, and I'm delighted that you still find it in you to try out new things. Your list is certainly longer than Elena's."

She smiled. For once, she bet Elena in something.

* * *

"Honour your partner. Stay focus, right hand around. Flirt with your eyes." Elena and Stefan were sniggering. "Left hand around. Both hands."

Jessica resisted the intense urge to roll her eyes. She was going with Samuel Jackson, who was part of the football team. He had black hair, tanned skin and baby blue eyes. He was a combination of Tyler and Matt by looks, even in personality they were similar.

Stefan spun Elena around before catching her in his arms. "No! No!" Mrs Lockwood cried. "There's no touching during this part. It's about the simple intimacy of the near touch. Very nice, Jessica!"

She smiled. "Thank you, Mrs Lockwood."

* * *

Caroline was ranting to Bonnie about the Miss Mystic Falls applicants. "The Fell cousins don't have a shot and Amber Bradley is only on the court so the pageant doesn't look like its founding families only—which, of course, it is. So that leaves Elena and Jessica who totally have the sympathy vote since their parents died. Elena doesn't do anything anymore, but Jessica's almost in as much stuff as I am. Go Green scheme, cheerleading, gymnastics, hockey. How am I supposed to compete with that?"

"Very nice," Bonnie scolded, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Very sensitive."

"Oh I'm sorry, this must sound really unimportant. In light of everything," she apologised.

"It's okay." She sighed. "I get it. You want to win."

"Well, my grandmother was Miss Mystic and both of my aunts," she said. "My mom is the only one who didn't get the gene and I want this. I actually deserve this."

* * *

"Everyone thinks that you're gonna win," Matt said, cleaning the top of the bar. "You have the sympathy _and _the amount of clubs that you're involved in. You're like a combination of Elena and Caroline."

Jessica laughed. "I don't know. Caroline's involved in more stuff than I am and Elena… she has this way with words that makes people just fall under her spell. I don't have that."

"Sure you do," Matt replied. Jessica quirked an eyebrow. "Alright, maybe not, but you still have a good shot. So what if you're not charismatic? You have a lot of other talents. Like, hockey. Even Miss Bynes has to admit that you're good at it."

"Mediocre," she commented. "I'm mediocre."

"You're left mid, Jess!" he said. "You've gone from barely able to run a lap to running miles with the cross country team during lunch times. Not to mention you're one of the most flexible girls in Mystic Falls."

"Alex Simpson is better," she stated dully.

"What's up with you and thinking you're horrible at everything?" Matt finally snapped.

"Because I am!" she insisted. "You don't know what it's like, to have a sister who's so pitch perfect that everyone prefers her."

Matt shook his head. "I never preferred her, but you still threw me away like a toy because you imagined that I did. You're not gonna be able to have a happy life until you sort out your insecurity problem."

He walked away. "I don't have an insecurity problem!" she yelled after him.

They both knew it was a lie.

* * *

"Thanks for helping me," Jessica said to Jenna, who was straightening her hair. She was going to wear a pretty, no sleeved, red dress.

"You and Elena are the same," Jenna laughed. "Thanking me when there's a large probability that your hair is going to fall off."

Jessica chuckled. "I remember when my mom, Elena and I first applied to Miss Mystic Falls, we were all so excited, even Elena was."

"And now?"

She took a deep breath. "I still… kind of am, but Elena isn't and that puts a damper on things. So much has changed in a year, it's unbelievable."

"You've changed," Jenna said. "We all have. Elena's not as happy, she fakes it and Jeremy doesn't have that childish glint in his eyes whenever he's excited. You're the only one who's improved in some sort of way, and that comes with drawbacks too, since it was a psychopath with mind control tendencies that forced you to grow up."

An annoying little tear strolled down her little Bambi eyes. She wiped it away quickly. "I'm so sick of crying."

Jenna laughed and switched off the straightener. "So, what are we doing with your hair?"

"Fringe back, I think."

She smiled. "I think that's a great idea."

* * *

The escort, a crowd of people and the Mayor, who was announcing them, were waiting for the Miss Mystic Falls applicants. "Miss Tina Fell, escorted by Bartholomew Whitmore."

Tina went down the stairs. "Has anyone seen Amber?" Mrs Lockwood asked.

Elena, clad in a blue dress, was too busy searching for Stefan. "Do you see Stefan down there?"

"Nope," Caroline replied, dressed in turquoise. "Just Jessica's hot date and my boring fill in escort."

"What happened to Matt?" Elena asked.

"They wouldn't let him out of work," Caroline said ruefully. "Wait, what happened to Stefan?"

"I don't know," she replied honestly. "I don't know, he just disappeared somewhere, I don't know. What am I doing? I never should have gone through with this."

"What do you mean?" Jessica queried worriedly.

"I need to find Stefan," she said. "This isn't me, I'm not this person anymore. Beauty, fashion and pageants has always been yours and Jessica's forte."

Caroline shook her head frantically. "No, no, no way, no. You had your chance to drop out and believe me I was all for it, because there is no way that I could beat you. I would have jumped with joy if Jessica would have dropped out too, but Elena, you guys are doing this because it was important to your mom."

"Miss Caroline Forbes and her escort Jeffrey Lockwood Hamilton."

She looked at the two of them before descending the stairs. "Elena, you're next."

Elena gulped. After a few minutes, the Mayor called out for Elena. "Miss Elena Gilbert, escorted by Mister Stefan Salvatore."

She walked down the stairs nervously, glancing around for her knight in shining armour. Jessica felt for her sister. Damon Salvatore took his place, much to Jessica's vexation. She noticed how he looked at Elena. He loved her. He loved Elena, but he couldn't love her.

"Finally, Miss Jessica Gilbert, accompanied by Mister Samuel Jackson."

Jessica joined her fellow Miss Mystic Falls girls and their escorts, holding onto Samuel's arm.

He looked good in a tux, she'd give him that.

* * *

The girls were lined up on stage, waiting for the result. "Where's Amber?"

"I don't know," Jessica admitted.

"Before I crown the winner, I'd like to offer a personal thank you to all of these young ladies for their efforts to better our community." The crowd clapped. "So, without further a due it is my honour to announce our very own Miss Mystic Falls, Miss Caroline Forbes!"

Caroline gaped and turned to Jessica. "But you… you were…"

Jessica shook her head. "It's yours. Go get it. Congratulations!"

"I actually won!"

The two embraced. The Mayor placed the banner around Caroline's shoulder. Elena gave her sister a questioning look, but Jessica only replied with a smirk of her own.

* * *

"You were a shoe in," Jenna ranted as she drove Jessica and Jeremy home. "Even Mrs Lockwood said so. I don't know how you couldn't have won."

Jessica shrugged. "Everything turned out the way it was supposed to."

Jenna's gaze snapped over to Jessica. "What did you do?"

She grinned. "Nothing. I did nothing."


	17. Isobel

**Isobel**

Alaric handed papers to his students. "So these are the specs for the History department. For the Founder's Day float we'll be recreating the battle of Willow Creek. Tyler has been nominated at the head of the production design."

Tyler went wide-eyed. "By who?"

"By me," he stated. "I've seen your sketches and they're good."

Caroline and Jessica giggled a few tables away at Tyler's awkward reluctance. "I'm really into the…"

"Well, you just pick your team, be creative and…" He noticed something behind Tyler. "Don't screw up."

Jessica was now in a fit of uncontrollable giggles, as was Caroline. Tyler _hated _responsibility. He was a jock, and drawing wasn't considered 'cool'.

"Guys, you're being rude," Bonnie chided.

Caroline knitted her eyebrows together. "How?"

"And childish," she continued. "Alright, show me the float."

Caroline smiled. "Let's reference last year's Miss Mystic float." She typed on her computer. "This is what they did last year." She spun the computer around so that Bonnie and Jessica could see the float, which looked horrible. "And this is exactly what we _don't _want to do."

"Ew," Bonnie commented.

"Barf," Jessica added. "Okay, so what are we doing?"

The Miss Mystic Falls champion grinned. "Southern classical elegance."

"Gone With the Wind?" Bonnie guessed.

Caroline looked surprised at Bonnie's apt guessing. "How'd you know?"

"She's psychic, remember?" Jessica whispered with a smirk.

Bonnie rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "No. Caroline channels Scarlett daily."

"So true!" the blonde exclaimed.

The three of them laughed while Caroline glanced around, searching for Jessica's absent twin. "Where's Elena? She's supposed to be helping."

"I don't know," Bonnie said defensively.

"Okay, _seriously_," Jessica said, edging to face her witchy best friend. "What's the deal?"

"What do you mean?" Bonnie asked, pretending like she didn't have a clue.

"You're dodging," she noted. "And you're playing dumb. You and Elena are fighting! Spill it!"

Bonnie shook her head. "It's nothing."

"It's not 'nothing'," Jessica said sternly. "This whole thing is supposed to be about friendship, friends creating something together. Matt and Tyler at each other's throats, you and Elena are arguing about God knows what and I'm stuck being the mediator. I _suck _at being the mediator, _you're _the mediator, Bonnie! And I can't mend a friendship if I don't know what's wrong."

Caroline nodded her head in agreement. Bonnie looked close to tears. "I can't talk about. I'm sorry."

_Figures. _Secrets, secrets and more secrets. It was tearing what was left of their friendship apart, and sometimes it seemed like only Caroline and Jessica gave a damn.

* * *

"Hey, Jess," Caroline called from the other side of the float, "will you get some more yellow paint? We've ran out."

Jessica stood up, her jeans ruined with multi-coloured paint. "Sure."

She grabbed the bucket and made her way inside of the high school. The halls were empty. The students had been excused from classes in order to work on their floats and stands.

On her way to the Janitor's cupboard – which housed the different coloured paints – a woman with brown hair, brown eyes and a suspicious smirk stood in her way. "Uh… hi?" she greeted, raising an eyebrow. "Can I, um, help you?"

Her unfriendly smirk morphed into a kind smile, allowing Jessica to relax. "Hi, I'm Isobel. I'm a new teacher here."

Isobel… wasn't that her birth mom's name? She bit her lip. It was too much a coincidence, wasn't it? She brushed it off. "What's your surname? I don't think it's appropriate for me to call you 'Miss Isobel'."

"Williams," she told her.

Her birth mother's surname was Flemming. She tried not to be disappointed. "Anyway," Miss Williams continued, placing herself in front of Jessica. "Care to tell me about your friends, family? Student gossip. Anything related to Elena Gilbert."

Normally, she'd find it weird that a complete stranger was so inquisitive, but Miss Williams was very charismatic. She almost felt _compelled _to tell her everything. "Well, my sister, Elena, she's my twin, she goes here too. Then there's Jeremy, my brother, who's actually my adoptive brother. He did drugs after my parents died, but I think that he only became a druggee to impress Vicki Donovan, the school slut, but she's dead now. Caroline Forbes and Bonnie Bennett are in my class too, they're my best friends. Then there's the football team, Tyler Lockwood, the Mayor's son, and Matt Donovan being a part of it. Matt's my ex. I slept with Tyler once, but that was only because I was convinced Matt was in love with Elena, I still think that, really. He looks at her all lovey-dovey eyed. Maybe he went out with me just to make Elena jealous…" She noticed Miss Williams's bored look and changed the topic. "Anyway, Matt's dating Caroline now and Tyler still has a thing for me. I almost slept with him a few weeks ago. I know right? Moment of weakness. Elena's dating the new guy, Stefan, who's really creepy now that I think about it. I had a crush on him when he first came to the school, but then I went out with his brother, Damon, who treated me like crap and had a fetish for _biting_. Edward Cullen and Bella Swan fantasies. Thank God he didn't bring in a guy to play Jacob. And then-"

Miss Williams held up a hand, signalling for her to stop. "I've heard enough. Thank you." Isobel stepped closer to her and brushed her hair out of her face. "You're going to forget this, but I'm your mother. I just needed some sort of closure." Jessica gaped and opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get a word out She compelled her again. "Forget that any of this happened."

Isobel vamped away. Jessica blinked. What had just happened? She looked up at the clock and saw that it was fifteen minutes later than she thought it was. She shook her head, trying to snap out of the daze she was in and went inside the cupboard to get the paint.

* * *

Jeremy was walking outside of the school, watching as is fellow Mystic High students created floats and other decorative designs for Founder's Day. He noticed Elena and ran up to her. "Elena!"

"Hey, have you seen Stefan?" she asked him. "I need to find him."

She had had a very stressful, dramatic day. She met her birth mother, Isobel, who wasn't against threatening her offspring to get what she wanted. "No, not lately. Listen, do you have a second?"

Elena nodded. "Yeah. What's up? What's going on?"

"Well, its Anna," Jeremy replied. "I've left her all this messages and she hasn't gotten back to me, not even a text."

"Anna?" she questioned. Jeremy nodded in response. "I didn't know that you guys were still friends."

"We're more than friends," he replied. "Look, something could be seriously wrong and if you know anything, you've got to tell me."

"I haven't talked to her, Jer."

"Are you lying to me right now?" Jeremy snapped.

Elena knitted her eyebrows together in confusion. "Why do you say that?"

"'Cause that's what you do. Lie," he spat. "You lie about everything. I know what Anna is and I know that you know. So tell me, do you have any idea where she is?"

"No," she told him honestly. "But Jer…" Her brother stormed off. "Jeremy wait!"

She spun around, intending to follow him, but her vampire mother stood in her way. "Isobel. What are you doing here?"

She smiled sweetly. "I'm your mother, Elena. I want to be more involved in your life."

"I don't want you in my life," Elena growled.

"I understand that," she stated. "You already have a lot of people that you care about but I've been studying. Let's see if I got this right."

She looked at Bonnie. "There is the witchy best friend, Bonnie. Gonna stay away from that one." She gestured to Jeremy. "Oh… sad little brother Jeremy." They watched Caroline. "And there's Caroline… obnoxious Caroline. And there's Matt, friend, my other daughter's ex, yappy's future ex. Lots of connection there."

"Matt is not involved in this," Elena snapped.

"He's involved with you, isn't he?" she said. Isobel watched Jessica come out of the school, a bucket of paint in her grasp. "And Jessica. Innocent Jessica. Compelled God knows how many times. Always second to her elder twin sister. I got all my information off her, by the way, it just took a little… persuading."

Elena pressed her lips into a thin line. "You compelled her."

"Like you've done," Isobel bit back. "Or asked to be done by Damon, yappy's abusive ex-boyfriend."

Elena looked over at her in shock. "She's your _daughter_."

"You're my daughter," Isobel pointed out. "Familial relations mean nothing to me."

"Look, you shouldn't be here," Elena declared. "You need to leave."

"No," Isobel replied. "I have some friends here too. Look, you see that man over here, standing next to Matt by the Float? His name is Frank, he's very handsome and he's also quite handy and he'd noticed that the axles are a little rusty which is very dangerous. So, all you have to do is apply a little bit of pressure and…"

"No!" Elena cried in horror.

Frank jumped on the trailer above Matt. The quarterback's arms got crushed from the pressure. Elena tried to sprint over to him, but Isobel's vampire grip on her arm prevented her from doing so.

"Get the trailer!" Matt yelled. "Come on guys, help me!"

Tyler and some other guys rushed over to him. They attempted to remove the trailer. With Stefan's help, they succeeded. Matt squirmed away from the trailer.

"Jessica, call an ambulance," Stefan instructed.

Jessica nodded and called 911. "Can we get an ambulance? My friend's arms got crushed by a trailer…. Mystic High. Thank you."

"Why are you doing this?" Elena asked Isobel, tears shining in her eyes.

"I'm showing you how easy it is to hurt the people that you care about," she informed.

"And you're doing this just because of Jonathan Gilbert's invention?" Elena questioned.

Isobel nodded. "Hand it over and all will be stopped."

"I told you," Elena began, "Damon is not going to give it to me."

She smiled. "I think you underestimate how much Damon cares about you."

"Is that before or after I kill your brother Jeremy?" Isobel asked.

Elena turned around and looked for her brother. "Jeremy?" Stefan glanced over at his frantic girlfriend. "Jeremy?!" she cried, looking everywhere for Jeremy. Isobel had vanished as well.

* * *

"How did you manage to get your head so beaten?" Jenna exclaimed as she dabbed a wet cloth on Uncle John's head. "Did you get into another fight?"

Jessica snapped her head over to stare at John. "Wait, are you saying that Uncle John was one of the bad-tempered rowdy kids?"

Jenna laughed and nodded. "All the time. Then he became a nerd in senior year and started reading vampire novels like there was no tomorrow. Anne Rice, she was your favourite, wasn't she, John?"

"Her interpretation of vampires were more accurate," John said, looking at Jeremy who seemed very distracted. "Well, they were realistic."

"John, for the one hundred billionth time, there is no such thing as vampires!" Jenna exclaimed. "Tell him, Jessica."

"Yup," she agreed. "And personally I think that the Twilight novels are spot on."

"What's your opinion, Jeremy?" John asked his only nephew.

Jeremy broke out of his trance. "Anne Rice. The Twilight movies are disgraceful," he deadpanned.

"No way!" Jessica cried, genuinely offended. "Stephenie Meyer is spot on."

"You're just in love with Jacob," Jeremy shot back.

"Actually, that's me," Jenna spoke. "Jessica's Team Edward."

The phone rang in the hall. "I'll get it," Jeremy said. He got up and picked up the phone. "Hello?... Yeah, yeah I'm fine, Uncle John hit his head. It was an accident."

"We're all laughing," Jenna said.

Jeremy smiled. "But yeah, I'm okay… Yeah."

He hung up the phone and shared a look with John. Jenna looked between them. "Am I missing something…?"

"You get used to it after a while," Jessica said, holding her head up with her hand.

* * *

"Okay, so, what happened?"

_"I did something bad, Jess," _Bonnie said. _"And I lied about it."_

"To who?"

_"To Elena. I pretended to do something I really didn't do."_

"Wait, hold up. What did you do? Why are you being so ominous?"

_"I couldn't do what she wanted me to do. It wasn't right. Grams would have never done it, so I couldn't either. But when Elena finds out, she's never gonna forgive me."_

* * *

_**Author's Note: **Sorry about the wait, guys! I had exams and I have a talent show coming up. Hope you can forgive me and please review!_


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